









LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 


mi 






UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 



A?R 



3 ^884 



HISTORY 



OF 



HERNANDO CORTEZ 



BY JOH?f S. C. ABBOTT. 



(Witt Enarabtnsu. 






N^EW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
PEART, STREET, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 



,C<\N 



V- 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-six, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 



Copyright, 1884, by Susan Abbot Mead. 



Jd^ 



PREFACE. 



The career of Hernando Cortez is one of the 
most wild and adventurous recorded in the an- 
nals of fact or fiction, and yet all the prom- 
inent events in his wondrous history are well 
authenticated. All truth carries with itself an 
important moral. The writer, in this narrative, 
has simply attempted to give a vi\id idea of 
the adventures of Cortez and his companions in 
the Conquest of Mexico. There are many in- 
ferences of vast moment to which the recital 
leads. These are so obvious that they need 
not be pointed out by the writer. 

A small portion of this volume has appeared 
in Harper's Magazine, in an article furnished by 
the writer upon the Conquest of Mexico, 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Pug« 

I. THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO 13 

II. EARLY LIFE OF CORTEZ 28 

III. THE VOYAGE TO MEXICO 57 

IV. FOUNDING A COLONY _ 84 

V. THE TLASCALANS SUBJUGATED 117 

VI. THE MARCH TO MEXICO 150 

VII. THE METROPOLIS INVADED 184 

VIII. BATTLE OF THE DISMAL NIGHT 214 

IX. THE CAPITAL BESIEGED AND CAPTURED 246 

X. THE CONQUEST CONSUMMATED 281 

XI. THE EXPEDITION TO HONDURAS 305 

XII. THE LAST DAYS OF CORTEZ 330 



ENGRAVINGS. 



"^ AMERICA DISCOVERED 16 

^ CORTEZ TAKING LEAVE OF THE GOVERNOR 47 

/ CUBA 52 

v/ THE FIRST MASS IN THE TEMPLES OF YUCATAN 61 

v/ FIRST CAVALRY CHARGE HEADED BY CORTEZ 73 

/ INTERVIEW BETWEEN CORTEZ AND THE EMBASSA- 
DORS OF MONTEZUMA- 94 

/* ROUTE OF CORTEZ 105 

>/ DESTROYING THE IDOLS AT ZEMPOALLA 120 

• MASSACRE IN CHOLULA 161 

y/ FIRST VIEW OF THE MEXICAN CAPITAL 168 

/ THE MEETING OF CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA 177 

(/ THE CITY OF MEXICO 190 

/ THE FALL OF MONTEZUMA 222 

/ THE BATTLE UPON THE CAUSEWAY 232 

y THE CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZIiN 260 



14 Hernando Cortez. 

Doubt and alarm. A light appears. 

inspired by science and by faith, doubted not 
that a world would ere long emerge before him 
from the apparently boundless waters. But 
the blue sky still overarched them, and the 
heaving ocean still extended in all directions 
its unbroken and interminable expanse. 

Discouragement and alarm now pervaded 
nearly all hearts, and there was a general clam- 
or for return to the shores of Europe. Chris- 
topher Columbus, sublime in the confidence 
with which his exalted nature inspired him, was 
still firm and undaunted in his purpose. 

The night of the 11th of October darkened 
over these lonely adventurers. The stars came 
out in all the brilliance of tropical splendor. A 
fresh breeze drove the ships with increasing 
speed over the billows, and cooled, as with 
balmy zephyrs, brows heated through the day 
by the blaze of a meridian sun. Columbus 
could not sleep. He stood upon the deck of 
his ship, silent and sad, yet indomitable in en- 
ergy, gazing with intense and unintermitted 
watch into the dusky distance. It was near 
midnight. Suddenly he saw a light, as of a 
torch, far off in the horizon. His heart throb- 
bed with an irrepressible tumult of excitement. 
Was it a meteor, or was it a light from the long- 



The Discoveey of Mexico. 17 

He watches the light. The shore is seen. 

wished-for land ? It disappeared, and all again 
was dark. But suddenly again it gleamed forth, 
feeble and dim in the distance, yet distinct. 
Soon again the exciting ray was quenched, and 
nothing disturbed the dark and sombre outline 
of the sea. The long hours of the night to 
Columbus seemed interminable as he waited 
impatiently for the dawn. But even before any 
light was seen in the east, the dim outline of 
land appeared in indisputable distinctness be- 
fore the eyes of the entranced, the now immor- 
talized navigator. A cannon^ — the signal of the 
discovery — rolled its peal over the ocean, an- 
nouncing to the two vessels in the rear the joy- 
ful tidings. A shout, excited by the heart's in- 
tensest emotions, rose over the waves, and with 
tears, with prayers, and embraces, these enthu- 
siastic men accepted the discovery of the New 
World. 

The bright autumnal morning dawned in rich- 
est glory, presenting to them a scene as of a ce- 
lestial paradise. The luxuriance of tropical 
vegetation bloomed in all its novelty around 
them. The inhabitants, many of them in the 
simple and innocent costume of Eden before the 
fall, crowded the shore, gazing with attitude and 
gesture of astonishment upon the strange phe- 
B 



18 Heenando Cortez. 

The Spaniards land and are hospitably received. 

nomena of the ships. The adventurers landed, 
and were received upon the island of San Salva- 
dor as angels from heaven by the peaceful and 
friendly natives. Bitterly has the hospitality 
been requited. After cruising around for some 
time among the beautiful islands of the New 
World, Columbus returned to Spain to aston- 
ish Europe with the tidings of his discovery. 
He had been absent but seven months. 

A quarter of a century passed away, during 
which all the adventurers of Europe were busy 
exploring these newly-discovered islands and 
continents. Various colonies were established 
in the fertile valleys of these sunny climes, and 
upon the hill-sides which emerged, in the ut- 
most magnificence of vegetation, from the bosom 
of the Caribbean Sea. The eastern coast of 
North America had been during this time sur- 
veyed from Labrador to Florida. The bark of 
the navigator had discovered nearly all the isl- 
ands of the West Indies, and had crept along 
the winding shores of the Isthmus of Darien, and 
of the South American continent as far as the 
River La Plata. Bold explorers, guided by in- 
telligence received from the Indians, had even 
penetrated the interior of the isthmus, and from 
the summit of the central mountain barrier had 



The Discovery of Mexico. 19 

Mexico is discovered. Arts and sciences of the Mexicans. 

gazed with delight upon the placid waves of the 
Pacific. But the vast indentation of the Mex- 
ican Gulf, sweeping far away in an apparently 
interminable circuit to the west, had not yet 
been penetrated. The field for romantic adven- 
ture which these unexplored realms presented 
could not, however, long escape the eye of that 
chivalrous age. 

Some exploring expeditions were soon fitted 
out from Cuba, and the shores of Mexico were 
discovered. Here every thing exhibited the 
traces of a far higher civilization than had hith- 
erto been witnessed in the ^ew World. There 
were villages, and even large cities, thickly 
planted throughout the country. Temples and 
other buildings, imposing in massive architec- 
ture, were reared of stone and lime. Armies, 
laws, and a symbolical form of writing indicated 
a very considerable advance in the arts and the 
energies of civilization. Many of the arts were 
cultivated. Cloth was made of cotton, and of 
skins nicely prepared. Astronomy was suffi- 
ciently understood for the accurate measure- 
ment of time in the divisions of the solar year. 
It is indeed a wonder, as yet unexplained, 
where these children of the New World ac- 
quired so philosophical an acquaintance with 



20 Hernando Cortez. 

The mines of precious metals. Code of laws. 

the movements of the heavenly bodies. Agri- 
culture was practiced with much scientific skill, 
iand a system of irrigation introduced, from 
which many a New England farmer might learn 
many a profitable lesson. Mines of gold, sil- 
ver, lead, and copper were worked. Many ar- 
ticles of utility and of exquisite beauty were 
fabricated from these metals. Iron, the ore of 
which must pass through so many processes 
before it is prepared for use, was unknown to 
them. The Spanish goldsmiths, admiring the 
exquisite workmanship of the gold and silver 
ornaments of the Mexicans, bowed to their su- 
periority. 

Fairs were held in the great market-places 
of the principal cities every fifth day, where 
buyers and sellers in vast numbers thronged. 
They had public schools, courts of justice, a 
class of nobles, and a powerful monarch. The 
territory embraced by this wonderful kingdom 
was twice as large as the whole of New En- 
gland. 

The code of laws adopted by this strange 
people was very severe. They seemed to cher- 
ish but little regard for human life, and the al- 
most universal punishment for crime was death. 
This bloody code secured a very effective po- 



The Discovery of Mexico. 21 

Punisliments. Slavery. Military glory. 

lice. Adulterj, thieving, removing landmarks, 
altering measures, defrauding a ward. of prop- 
erty, intemperance, and even idleness, witli 
spendthrift habits, were punished pitilessly with 
death. The public mind was so accustomed to 
this, that death lost a portion of its solemnity. 
The rites of marriage were very formally enact- 
ed, and very rigidly adhered to. 

Prisoners taken in war were invariably slain 
upon their religious altars in sacrifice to their 
gods. Slavery existed among them, but not 
hereditary. No one could be born a slave. 
The poor sometimes sold their children. The 
system existed in its mildest possible form, as 
there was no distinction of race between the 
master and the slave. 

Military glory was held in high repute. Fa- 
naticism lent all its allurements to inspire the 
soldier. Large armies were trained to very 
considerable military discipline. Death upon 
the battle-field was a sure passport to the most 
sunny and brilliant realms of the heavenly 
world. The soldiers wore coats of mail of wad- 
ded cotton, which neither arrow nor javelin could 
easily penetrate. The chiefs wore over these 
burnished plates of silver and of gold. Silver 
helmets, also, often glittered upon the head. 



22 Heenando Cortez. 

Mexican mythology. The three states of existence. 

Hospitals were established for the sick and the 
wounded. 

Their religious system was an incongruous 
compound of beauty and of deformity — of gen- 
tleness and of ferocity. They believed in one 
supreme God, the Great Spirit, with several 
hundred inferior deities. The god of war was 
a very demon. The god of the air was a re- 
fined deity, whose altars were embellished with 
fruits and flowers, and upon whose ear the warb- 
ling of birds and the most plaintive strains of 
vocal melody vibrated sweetly. 

There were, in their imaginations, three states 
of existence in the future world. The good, 
and especially those, of whatever character, who 
fell upon the field of battle, soared to the sun, 
and floated in aerial grace and beauty among 
the clouds, in peace and joy, never to be dis- 
turbed. The worthless, indififerent sort of peo- 
ple, neither good nor bad, found perhaps a con- 
genial home in the monotony of a listless and 
almost lifeless immortality, devoid of joy or 
grief. The wicked were imprisoned in ever- 
lasting darkness, where they could do no far- 
ther harm. 

It is an extraordinary fact that the rite of in- 
fant baptism existed among them. This fact 



The Discovery of Mexico. 23 

Infant baptism. Worship. The temples and altars. 

is attested loy the Spanish historians, who wit-, 
nessed it with their own ejes, and who have re- 
corded the truly Christian prayers offered on 
the occasion. As the infants were sprinkled with 
water, God was implored to wash them from 
original sin, and to create them anew. Many 
of their prayers dimly reflected those pure and 
ennobling sentiments which shine so brilliant- 
ly in the word of God. 

Their worship must have been a costly one, 
as the most majestic temples were reared, and 
an army of priests was supported. One single 
temple in the metropolis had five thousand 
priests attached to its service. The whole 
business of youthful instruction was confided 
to the priests. They received confession, and 
possessed the power of absolution. 

The temples were generally pyramidal struc- 
tures of enormous magnitude. Upon the broad 
area of their summits an altar was erected, 
where human victims, usually prisoners taken 
in war, were ofi*ered in sacrifice. These awful 
ceremonies were conducted with the most im- 
posing pomp of music, banners, and military 
and ecclesiastical processions. The victim of- 
fered in sacrifice was bound immovably to the 
stone altar. The officiating priest, with a sharp 



24 Heenando Cortez. 

Mode of offering sacrifice. City of Mexico. 

instrument constructed of flint-like lava, cut 
open his breast, and tore out the warm and pal- 
pitating heart. This hloody sacrifice was pre- 
sented in devout offering to the god. At times, 
in the case of prisoners taken in war, the most 
horrid tortures were practiced before the bloody 
rite Was terminated. When the gods seemed 
to frown, in dearth, or pestilence, or famine, 
large numbers of children were frequently of- 
fered in sacrifice. Thus the temples of Mexico 
were ever clotted with blood. Still more re- 
volting is the well-authenticated fact that the 
body of the wretched victim thus sacrificed was 
often served up as a banquet, and was eaten 
with every accompaniment of festive rejoicing. 
It is estimated that from thirty to fifty thousand 
thus perished every year upon the altars of an- 
cient Mexico. One of the great objects of their 
wars was to obtain victims for their gods. 

The population of this vast empire is not 
loiown. It must have consisted, however, of 
several millions. The city of Mexico, situated 
on islands in the bosom of a lake in the centre 
of a spacious and magnificent valley of the in- 
terior, about two hundred miles from the coast, 
was the metropolis of the realm. 

Montezuma was king — an aristocratic king, 



The Discoyery of Mexico. 25 

Montezuma. Civilization of the inhabitants. 

surrounded by nobles, upon whom lie conferred 
all the honors and emoluments of the state. 
His palace was very magnificent. He was 
served from plates and goblets of silver and 
gold. Six hundred feudatory nobles composed 
his daily retinue, paying him the most obsequi- 
ous homage, and expecting the same from those 
beneath themselves. Montezuma claimed to be 
lord of the whole world, and exacted tribute 
from all whom his arm could reach. His tri- 
umphant legions had invaded and subjugated 
many adjacent states, as this Homan empire 
of the New World extended in all directions its 
powerful sway. 

It will thus be seen that the kingdom of 
Mexico, in point of civilization, was about on 
an equality with the Chinese empire of the pres- 
ent day. Its inhabitants were very decidedly 
elevated above the wandering hordes of North 
America. 

Montezuma had heard of the arrival, in the 
islands of the Caribbean Sea, of the strangers 
from another hemisphere. He had heard of 
their appalling power, their aggressions, and 
their pitiless cruelty. Wisely he resolved to 
exclude these dangerous visitors from his shores. 
As exploring expeditions entered his bays and 



26 Heenando Cortez. 

The Governor of Cuba resolves to subjugate the country. 

rivers, ihej were fiercely attacked and driven 
away. These expeditions, however, brought 
back to Cuba most alluring accounts of the 
rich empire of Mexico and of its golden opu- 
lence. 

The Governor of Cuba now resolved to fit 
out an expedition sufficiently powerful to sub- 
jugate their country, and make it one of the vas- 
sals of Spain. It was a dark period of the 
world. Human rights were but feebly discern- 
ed. Superstition reigned over hearts and con- 
sciences with a fearfully despotic sway. Acts, 
upon which would now fall the reproach of un- 
mitigated villainy, were then performed with 
prayers and thanksgivings honestly offered. 
We shall but tell the impartial story of the 
wondrous career of Cortez in the subjugation 
of this empire. God, the searcher of all hearts, 
can alone unravel the mazes of conscientious- 
ness and depravity, and award the just meed 
of approval and condemnation. 

Many good motives were certainly united 
with those more questionable which inspired 
this enterprise. It was a matter of national am- 
bition to promote geographical discoveries, to 
enlarge the realms of commerce, and to extend 
the boundaries of human knowledge by inves- 



The Discoveky of Mexico. 27 

Motives for carrying on conquests. Hernando Cortez. 

tigating tlie arts and the sciences of other na- 
tions. The Christian religion — Heaven's great- 
est boon to man — was destined, by the clear an- 
nouncements of prophecy, to fill the world ; 
and it was deemed the duty of the Church to 
extend these triumphs in all possible ways. 
The importance of the end to be attained, it was 
thought, would sanctify even the instrumental- 
ity of violence and blood. Wealth and honors 
were among the earthly rewards promised to 
the faithful. 

Allowances must be made for the darkness 
of the age. It is by very slow and painful steps 
that the human mind has attained to even its 
present unsteady position in regard to civil and 
teligious rights. 

The Governor of Cuba, Velasquez, looked 
earnestly for a man to head this important en- 
terprise. He found just the man for the occa- 
sion in Hernando Cortez — a fearless, energetic 
Spanish adventurer, then residing upon the isl- 
and of Cuba. His early life will be found in 
the next chapter. 



28 Hernando Cortez. 

Village of Medellin. Early character of Cortez. 



Chapter IL 
Early Life of Cortez. 

nriSr the interior of Spain, in the midst of the 
-^ sombre mountains whose confluent streams 
compose the waters of the Guadiana, there re- 
poses the little village or hamlet of Medellin. 
A more secluded spot it would be difficult to 
find. Three hundred and seventy years ago, 
in the year 1485, Hernando Cortez was born in 
this place. His ancestors had enjoyed wealth 
and rank. The family was now poor, but proud 
of the Castilian blood which flowed in their 
veins. The father of Hernando was a captain 
in the army- — a man of honorable character. 
Of his mother but little is known. 

Not much has been transmitted to our day 
respecting the childhood of this extraordinary 
man. It is reported that he early developed a 
passion for wild adventure; that he was idle 
and wayward ; frank, fearless, and generous ; 
that he loved to explore the streams and to 
climb the cliffs of his mountainous home, and 
that he ever appeared reckless of danger. He 



Early Life of Cortez. 29 

Hernando sent to Salamanca. Life at the university 

was popular with his companions, for warm- 
heartedness and magnanimity were prominent 
in his character. 

His father, though struggling with poverty, 
cherished ambitious views for his son, and sent 
him to the celebrated university of Salamanca 
for an education. He wished Hernando to 
avoid the perils and temptations of the camp, 
and to enter the honorable profession of the law. 
Hernando reluctantly obeyed the wishes of his 
father, and went to the university. But he 
scorned restraint. He despised all the employ- 
ments of industry, and study was his especial 
abhorrence. Two years were worse than wasted 
in the university. Young Cortez was both in- 
dolent and dissipated. In all the feats of mis- 
chief he was the ringleader, and his books were 
entirely neglected. He received many cen- 
sures, and was on the point of being expelled, 
when his disappointed father withdrew the way- 
ward boy from the halls of the university, and 
took him home. 

Hernando was now sixteen years of age. 
There was nothing for him to do in the seclu- 
sion of his native village but to indulge in idle- 
ness. This he did with great diligence. He 
rode horses ; . he hunted and fished ; he learned 



30 Hernando Cortez. 

He turns soldier. Expedition to Hispaniola, 

the art of the swordsman and played the sol- 
dier. Hot blood glowed in his veins, and he 
became genteelly dissolute ; his pride would 
never allow him to stoop to vulgarity. The 
father was grief-stricken by the misconduct of 
his son, and at last consented to gratify the 
passion which inspired him to become a soldier. 
At seventeen years of age the martial boy 
enlisted in an expedition, under Gonsalvo de 
Cordova, to assist the Italians against the 
French. Young Cortez, to his bitter disap- 
pointment, just as the expedition started, was 
taken seriously sick, and was obliged to be left 
behind. Soon after this, one of his relatives 
was appointed, by the Spanish crown, governor 
of St. Domingo, now called Hayti, but then 
called Hispaniola, or Little Spain. This open- 
ing to scenes and adventures in the New World 
was attractive to the young cavalier in the high- 
est possible degree. It was, indeed, an enter- 
prise which might worthily arouse the enthusi- 
asm of any mind. A large fleet was equipped 
to convey nearly three thousand settlers to 
found a colony beneath the sunny skies and 
under the orange groves of the tropics. Life 
there seemed the elysium of the indolent man. 
Young Cortez now rejoiced heartily over his 



Early Life of Coiitez. 31 

His early love, and unfortunate consequences attending it. 

previous disappointment. His whole soul was 
engrossed in the contemplation of the wild and 
romantic adventures in which he expected to 
luxuriate. It is not to be supposed that a lad 
of such a temperament should, at the age of 
seventeen, be a stranger to the passion of love. 
There was a young lady in his native village 
for whom he had formed a strong youthful at- 
tachment. He resolved, with his accustomed 
ardor and recklessness, to secure an interview 
with his lady-love, where parting words and 
pledges should not be witnessed by prudent 
relatives. 

One dark night, just before the squadron 
sailed, the ardent lover climbed a mouldering 
wall to reach the window of the young lady's 
chamber. In the obscurity he slipped and fell, 
and some heavy stones from the crumbling wall 
fell upon him. He was conveyed to his bed, 
severely wounded and helpless. The fleet sail- 
ed, and the young man, almost insane with dis- 
appointment and chagrin, was left upon his bed 
of pain. 

At length he recovered. His father secured 
for him a passage to join the colonists in an- 
other sh^. He, with exultation, left Medellin, 
hastened. to the sea-shore, where he embarked. 






32 Hernando Cortez. 

He arrives at Hispaniola. Patronage of the governor. 

and after an unusually adventurous and peril- 
ous voyage, he gazed with delight upon the trop- 
ical vegetation and the new scenes of life of 
Hispaniola. It was the year 1504. Cortez 
was then nineteen years of age. 

The young adventurer, immediately upon 
landing, proceeded to the house of his relative, 
Governor Ovando. The governor happened to 
be absent, but his secretary received the young 
man very cordially. 

"I have no doubt," said he to Hernando, 
" that you will receive a liberal grant of land 
to cultivate." 

"I come to get gold," Hernando replied, 
haughtily, " not to till the soil like a peasant." 

Ovando, on his return, took his young rela- 
tive under his patronage, and assigned to him 
posts of profit and honor. Still Cortez was 
very restless. His impatient spirit wearied of 
the routine of daily duty, and his imagination 
was ever busy in the domain of wild adventure. 

Two Spaniards upon the island of Hispaniola 
about this time planned an expedition for ex- 
ploring the main land, to make discoveries and 
to select spots for future settlements. Cortez 
eagerly joined the enterprise, but again was he 
doomed to disappointment. - Just before the ves- 



Early Life of Coetez. 33 

Life at Hispaniola. Cortez's courage. 

sels sailed he was seized by a fever, and laid 
prostrate upon his bed. Probably his life was 
thus saved. Nearly all who embarked on this 
enterprise perished , by storm, disease, and the 
poisoned arrows of the natives. 

Seven years passed away, during which Cor- 
tez led an idle and voluptuous life, ever ready 
for any daring adventure which might offer, 
and miserably attempting to beguile the weari- 
ness of provincial life with guilty amours. He 
accepted a plantation from the governor, which 
was cultivated by slaves. His purse was thus 
ever well filled. Not unfrequently he became 
involved in duels, and he bore upon his body 
until death many scars received in these en- 
counters. Military expeditions were not un- 
frequently sent out to quell the insun'ections to 
which the natives of the island were goaded by 
the injustice and the cruelty of the Spaniards. 

Cortez was always an eager volunteer for 
such service. His courage and imperturbable 
self-possession made him an invaluable co-op- 
erator in every enterprise of danger. He thus 
became acquainted with all the artifices of In- 
dian warfare, and inured himself to the toil and 
privations of forest life. 

In the year 1492 the magnificent island of 
C 



34 Hernando Coktez. 

The island of Cuba. The new governor. 

Cuba, but a few leagues from Hispaniola, had 
been discovered by Columbus. As he approach- 
ed the land, the grandeur of the mountains, the 
wide sweep of the valleys, the stately forests, 
the noble rivers, the bold promontories and head- 
lands, melting away in the blue of the hazy dis- 
tance, impressed him with unbounded admira- 
tion. As he sailed up one of the beautiful riv- 
ers of crystal clearness, fringed with flowers, and 
aromatic shrubs, and tropical fruits, while the 
overhanging trees were vocal with the melody 
of birds of every variety of song and plumage, 
enraptured he exclaimed, 

" Cuba ! It is the most beautiful island that 
eyes ever beheld. It is an elysium. One 
could live there forever." 

The natives of the favored land were amiable 
and friendly. The Spaniards did not for sev- 
eral years encroach upon their rights, and no 
Spanish colony was established upon their en- 
chanting shores. It was now the year 1511. 
Nineteen years had elapsed since the discovery 
of the island. Ovando had been recalled, and 
Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher, had 
been appointed, in his stead, governor of His- 
paniola. He took the title of Viceroy, and as- 
sumed all the splendors of royalty. Diego Co- 



Early Life of Cortez. 35 

The filibustering expedition. Resistance. 

lumbus devoutly decided that it was manifest 
dcstinj that Cuba should belong to Spain. He 
organized a filihustering expedition to wrest 
from the natives their beautiful island. The 
command of the expedition was intrusted to 
Don Velasquez, a bold adventurer, of much no- 
toriety, from Spain, who had been residing for 
many years at Hispaniola, and who had been 
lieutenant under Governor Ovando. A foray of 
this kind would, of course, excite the patriotic 
zeal of every vagabond. Cortez was one of the 
first to hasten to the standard of Velasquez. 
The natives of the island, unarmed and volup- 
tuous, made hardly the shadow of resistance, 
and three hundred Spanish adventurers, with 
but a slight struggle, took possession of this 
magnificent domain. The reputation and abil- 
ity of Cortez gave him a prominent position in 
this adventure. 

One brave and patriotic Indian chief, who had 
fled from the outrages perpetrated at Hispanio- 
la, urged the Cubans to repel the invaders. 
Though unable to rouse in a mass the peace- 
loving islanders, he gathered a small band around 
him, and valiantly contended to resist the land- 
ing. His efforts were quite unavailing. Gun- 
powder soon triumphed. The Indians were 



36 Heenando Cortez. 

Hatuey condemned to death. His conversation. 

speedily put to flight, and tlie chieftain Hatuey 
was taken prisoner. 

Velasquez ignobly and cruelly condemned 
the heroic patriot to be burned alive ; but relig- 
iously the fanatic invader wished, though he 
burned the body, to save the soul. A priest 
was appointed to labor for the conversion of the 
victim. 

"If you will embrace our religion," said the 
priest, "as soon as the lire has consumed your 
body, you will enter heaven, and be happy there 
forever." 

"Are there Spaniards," inquired Hatuey, "in 
that happy place of which you speak ?" 

" Yes," replied the priest ; "such as are holy." 

" Then I will not go there I " Hatuey energet- 
ically rejoined. "I will never go to a placd 
where I shall meet one of that cruel people." 

The poor Indian was burned to ashes. The 
natives gazed upon the spectacle with horror. 
They were appalled, and ventured to make no 
farther resistance to their terrible conquerors. 

Such is Spain's title-deed to the island of 
Cuba. God has not smiled upon regions thus 
infamously won. May the United States take 
warning that all her possessions may be honor- 
ably acquired. " God helps," says blind unbe- 



Eaely Life of Cortez. 37 

The colony. The conspiracy. Cortez imprisoned. 

lief, " the heavy battalions ;" but experience has 
fully proved that " the race is not always to the 
swift, nor the battle to the strong." 

One or two colonies were soon established 
upon the conquered island. They grew very 
rapidly. Velasquez was appointed governor; 
Cortez was his secretary. 

Many families were enticed from Spain by 
the charms of this most beautiful of the isles 
of the ocean. A gentleman came from old Cas- 
tile with four beautiful daughters. Velasquez 
became attached to one ; Cortez trifled grievous- 
ly with the affections of another. The govern- 
or reproached him for his infamous conduct. 
The proud spirit of Cortez could not brook re- 
proof, and he entered into a conspiracy to prof- 
fer complaints against the governor, and to se- 
cure his removal. It was a bold and a perilous 
undertaking. 

Cortez prepared to embark in an open boat, 
and push out fearlessly but secretly into the open 
sea, to make a voyage of nearly sixty miles to 
Hispaniola. There he was to enter his com- 
plaints to Diego Columbus. The conspiracy 
was detected upon the eve of its execution. 
Cortez was arrested, manacled, thrown into 
prison, and was, after trial, sentenced to death 



38 Hernando Coetez. 

He flees to a church. Arrest and escape. 

for treason. He, however, succeeded in break- 
ing his fetters, forced open his prison window, 
and dropped himself down, in the darkness of 
the night, from the second stor j, and escaped to 
the sanctuary of a neighboring church. Such a 
sanctuary, in that day, could not be violated. 

A guard was secreted to watch him. He re- 
mained in the church for several days. But at 
length impatience triumphed over prudence, and, 
as he attempted one night to escape, he was 
again arrested, more strongly chained, and was 
placed on board a ship to be sent to Hispaniola 
for execution. 

The code of Spanish law was in that day a 
bloody one. Spanish governors were almost 
unlimited despots. Cortez was not willing to 
go to Hispaniola with the cord of a convicted 
traitor about his neck. With extraordinary 
fortitude, he drew his feet, mangling them sad- 
ly, through the irons which shackled them. 
Creeping cautiously upon deck, he let himself 
down softly into the water, swam to the shore, 
and, half dead with pain and exhaustion, at- 
tained again the sanctuary of the church. 

He now consented to marry the young lady 
with whose affections and reputation he had so 
cruelly trifled. The family, of course, espoused 



Early Life of Cortez. 39 

Cortez is pardoned. His marriage. Voyage of discovery. 

his cause. The governor, who was the lover of 
her sister, regarded this as the amende honor- 
able^ and again received the hot-blooded cava- 
lier to his confidence. Thus this black and 
threatening cloud suddenly disappeared, and 
sunshine and calm succeeded the storm. Cor-- 
tez returned to his estates with his bride a 
wiser, and perhaps a better man, from the se- 
vere discipline through which he had passed. 
Catalina Suarez, whom he married, was an ami- 
able and beautiful lady of very estimable char- 
acter. She eventually quite won the love of 
her wayward and fickle husband. 

"I lived as happily with her," said the 
haughty Castilian, "as if she had been the 
daughter of a duchess." 

Velasquez, like every other Spanish governor 
at that time, was ambitious of extending his 
dominions. In the year 1517, a number of 
restless spirits, under his patronage, resolved to 
sail upon a voyage of discovery and conquest. 

Three vessels were fitted out for this adven- 
ture. One hundred and ten men embarked in 
the enterprise, under the command of Francisco 
Hernandez, of Cordova. Velasquez directed 
them to land upon some neighboring islands, 
and seize a number of inhabitants, and make 



40 Heknando Cortez. 

Discoveries. Disasters. Reports from Yucatan. 

slaves of them, to pay the cost of the expedition. 
"But when the proposal," says one of the par- 
ty "was made known to the soldiers, we to a 
man refused it, saying that it was not just, 
nor did God or the king permit that free men 
should be made slaves. That our expedition," 
the same writer continues, " might he conduct- 
ed on proper principles, we persuaded a clergy- 
man to accompany us." In fervent prayer, 
commending themselves to God and the Vir- 
gin, they unfurled their sails, and steered reso- 
lutely toward the setting sun. They discover- 
ed the island of Cozumel and the vast promon- 
tory of Yucatan.* The expedition, however, 
encountered many disasters. The natives as- 
sailed them fiercely. At length the shattered 
ships returned, having lost seventy men, and 
bringing with them quite a number bleeding and 
dying. Cordova died of his wounds ten days 
after arriving at Havana. 

The tidings, however, of the magnificent dis- 
covery, and the fabulous report that the coun- 
try was rich in gold, incited Yelasquez to fit 

* Yuca is the Indian name of the plant used for bread. 
The heap of earth in which it is planted is called tule. The 
two words repeated together made Yucatul, or Yucatan as it 
was expressed by the Spaniards. — Bernal Diaz, p. 10. 



Early Life of Coetez. 41 

A-nother expedition. It arrives at Mexico. Accounts from Montezuma. 

out a second expedition of four ships, under 
the comraand of Juan de Grijalva. Two hun- 
dred and forty adventurers embarked in the en- 
terprise. On the 5th daj of April, 1518, after 
having devoutly partaken of the sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper, the anchors were lifted, and 
the little squadron sailed from the port of Ma- 
tanzas. Eight days brought them to Cozumel. 
They then passed over to the continent, and 
coasted along the shore for many leagues to the 
north and west. They made frequent attempts 
to land and open intercourse with the natives, 
but they were invariaby attacked with the ut- 
most determination. Though the Spaniards 
were generally victorious in these conflicts, they 
lost several men, and very many were sorely 
wounded. At length they arrived upon the 
coast of Mexico, and landed at the point now 
called St. Juan de Ulua. Here they were kind- 
ly received by the natives, and acquired consid- 
erable gold in exchange for glass beads. They 
also obtained vague information of the great 
monarch Montezuma, and of the extent and 
power of his realms. Greatly elated with this 
success, Grijalva sent one of his vessels back 
to Cuba with specimens of the gold, and with 
most glowing accounts of the grandeur, wealth. 



42 Hernando Cortez. 

The golden hatchets. Reports carried to Spain. 

and power of the newly-discovered empire of 
Mexico. To their extreme delight, the voya- 
gers found that the natives had hatchets appar- 
ently of solid burnished gold. The excitement 
was intense on board the ships. Six hundred 
of these hatchets were eagerly bought. At 
length the expedition returned to Cuba. The 
six hundred golden hatchets were triumphantly 
displayed, when, to the unutterable chagrin of 
their possessors, they proved to be but copper. 
The disappointed adventurers were overwhelm- 
ed with ridicule. " There was much laughter," 
says Diaz, who accompanied the expedition, 
'' when the six hundred hatchets were produced 
and assayed." 

The tidings of the discovery of Mexico spread, 
however, like wildfire over the island of Cuba, 
Every bosom which could be moved by avarice 
or by the love of adventure was intensely ex- 
cited. Velasquez promptly dispatched the wel- 
come intelligence to Spain, and immediately 
commenced fitting out another expedition upon 
a scale of grandeur hitherto unattempted. No 
one heard these tidings w^ith such a thrill of 
emotion as Hernando Cortez. Though enjoy- 
ing a rich estate, his extravagance had involved 
him in debt and distress. To retrieve his ru- 



Eaely Life of Cortez. 43 



Cortez obtains a commission. His enthusiasm. 

ined fortunes, and to gratify his insatiable love 
of adventure, lie resolved to leave no efforts un- 
tried to secure for himself the command of the 
expedition. 

He bribed some of the powerful friends of 
the governor to advocate his cause, promising 
them a rich share of the booty which he hoped 
to obtain. He also offered to contribute large- 
ly of his own wealth to fit out the naval arma- 
ment. 

It was manifest to all that there could not be 
a man better adapted to fill such a post than 
Hernando Cortez. The governor was well in- 
structed in his energy, capacity, and courage. 
But he feared these traits of character. He 
wished for a man who would act as his agent, 
who would be submissive to his authority, and 
who would transfer the glory of successful 
achievement to his name. But Cortez was a 
man to lead, not to be led. The governor hes- 
itated. At last he yielded to the powerful con- 
siderations which were pressed upon him, and 
publicly announced Cortez as captain general 
of the armada. 

As soon as Cortez received this commission, 
all the glowing enthusiasm and tremendous en- 
ergy of his nature were roused and concentrated 



44 Hernando Cortez. 

Mission and means. The governor alarmed. 

upon this one magnificent object. His whole 
character seemed suddenly to experience a total 
change. He became serious, earnest, thought- 
ful Mighty destinies were in his hands. 
Deeds were to be accomplished at which the 
world was to marvel. Strange as it may seem, 
for the heart of man is an inexplicable enigma, 
religion, perhaps we should say religious fanat- 
icism, mingled the elements of her mystic pow- 
er in the motives which inspired the soul of 
this extraordinary man. He was to march the 
apostle of Christianity to overthrow the idols in 
the halls of Montezuma, and there to rear the 
cross of Christ. It was his heavenly mission 
to convert the benighted Indians to the religion 
of Jesus. With the energies of fire and sword, 
misery and blood, horses rushing to the charge 
and death-dealing artillery, he was to lead back 
the wandering victims of darkness and sin to 
those paths of piety which guide to heaven. 

Such was Hernando Cortez. Let Philoso- 
phy explain the enigma as she may, no intelli- 
gent man will venture the assertion that Cortez 
was a hypocrite. He was a frank, fearless, de- 
luded enthusiast. 

Governor Velasquez soon became alarmed in 
view of the independent energy with which Cor- 



Eaely Life of Cortez. 45 

Attempt to deprive Cortez of the command. The squadron sails. 

tez pressed forward the enterprise. It was 
quite evident that the bold adventurer would 
regard no instructions, and that, having acquired 
wealth and fame, he would, with his command- 
ing genius, become a formidable rival. Yelas- 
quez therefore determined, before it should be 
too late, to deprive Cortez of the command. 
But it was already too late. The energetic 
captain received from a friend an intimation of 
his peril. With the decision which marked his 
character, he that very night, though the ves- 
sels were not prepared for sea, and the comple- 
ment of men was not yet mustered, resolved se- 
cretly to weigh anchor. 

The moment the sun -went down he called 
upon his officers and informed them of his pur- 
pose. Every man was instantly and silently 
in motion. At midnight the little squadron, 
with all on board, dropped down the bay. In- 
telligence was promptly conveyed to the gov- 
ernor of this sudden and unexpected departure. 
Mounting his horse, he galloped to a point of 
the shore which commanded a view of the fleet 
at anchor in the roadstead. Cortez, from the 
deck of his ship, saw the governor upon the 
beach surrounded by his retinue. He entered 
a boat and was rowed near to the shore. The 



46 Heenando Cortez. 

Cortez and the governor. St. Jago and Trinidad. 

governor reproached Cortez bitterly for his 
conduct. 

"Pardon me," said the captain, courteously; 
" time presses, and there are some things which 
should be done before they are even thought of." 

Then, with Castilian grace, waving an adieu 
to the governor, he returned to his ship. The 
anchors were immediately raised, the sails 
spread, and the little fleet, the renown of whose 
extraordinary achievements was to fill the 
world, was wafted from the harbor of St. Jago, 
and soon disappeared in the distant horizon of 
the sea. 

St. Jago was then the capital of Cuba. Cor- 
tez directed his course to Mocaca, about thirty 
miles distant. Hastily collecting such addi- 
tional stores as the place would afford, he again 
weighed anchor and proceeded to Trinidad. 
This was an important town on the southern 
shore of the island. Here he landed, raised his 
banner, and, with alluring promises, invited vol- 
unteers to join the expedition. He marshaled 
and drilled his men, collected military supplies, 
and, more than all, by the charms of his daily 
intercourse secured the entlmsiastic devotion of 
his followers. 

His men were armed with cross-bows and 



Eakly Life of Cortez. 49 

The standard. Providential gifts. 

muskets, and lie had several small cannon. 
Jackets, thickly wadded with cotton, were pro- 
vided as coats of mail for the soldiers, which 
were a great protection against the missiles of 
the natives. Neither arrow nor javelin could 
pierce them. A black velvet banner, embroid- 
ered with gold, and emblazoned with a cross, 
bore the characteristic device, 

"Let us follow the cross. Under this sign, 
with faith, we conquer." 

Beneath such a standard did these stern men 
march upon an expedition of wanton aggres- 
sion, crime, and woe. 

A trading vessel appeared off the coast, laden 
with provisions and valuable merchandise. It 
was a providential gift of exactly that which 
the adventurers needed. Cortez, with gratitude 
to God, seized both ship and cargo, and by his 
peculiar powers of moral suasion induced the 
captain and most of the crew to enlist in his 
service. Another ship made its appearance ; 
it was a renewed token of God's kindness to 
his servants ; it was received with alacrity. 
Whatever remonstrances the owners might raise 
were drowned in thanksgivings and praises. 
Every movement of the expedition was inspired 
by the fanatical spirit of the Crusades. 
D 



60 Heenando COIITEZ. 

Orders to arrest Cortez. His speech. The result. 

Cortez now, with his force much strengthen- 
ed, sailed around the western point of the isl- 
and to Havana. With renewed diligence, he 
here resumed his labor of beating up recruits 
and of augmenting his stores. Governor Ve- 
lasquez, informed of his arrival at this port, dis- 
patched orders to Pedro Barba, commander at 
Havana, to arrest Cortez and seize the fleet. 
But it was much easier to issue this order than 
to execute it. Cortez was now too strong to 
be apprehended by any force which Barba had 
at his command. Cortez received from a friend 
an intimation of the order for his arrest which 
had been received from the governor. 

He assembled his bold followers around him ; 
made a rousing speech, full of eloquence and of 
the peculiar piety then in vogue ; painted in 
glowing colors the wealth and the renown open- 
ing: before them in the vast realms of Mexico ; 
and then portrayed, with biting sarcasm, the 
jealousy and the meanness of Velasquez, who 
wished to deprive him of the command of the 
enterprise. 

The speech was convincing. His tumultu- 
ary followers threw up their hats and filled the 
air with acclamations. They declared that they 
would acknowledge Cortez, and Cortez only, 



Early Life of Cortez. 53 

Cortez writes to Velasquez. The squadron proceeds to Cape Antonio. 

as their leader; that thej would follow him 
wherever he might guide ; that they would de- 
fend him with their lives, and that they would 
wreak unsparing vengeance upon any enemies 
who should attempt to molest him in his glori- 
ous career. This was the efficient reply which 
•Cortez made to the order for his arrest. 

The reply was not lost upon Barba. He 
perceived that it would be folly to attempt to 
execute the command of the governor. He 
wrote to him accordingly, stating the impracti- 
cability of the attempt. In fact, Barba had no 
disposition to arrest Cortez. He had become 
strongly attached to the bold and earnest cap- 
tain. Cortez himself also wrote a very court- 
eous letter to the governor, with studied polite- 
ness informing him that, with the blessing of 
God, he should sail the next day, and assuring 
.the governor of eternal devotion to his interest. 
As there was some danger that Yelasquez might 
send from St. Jago a force sufficiently strong to 
cause some embarrassment, the little squadron 
the next morning weighed anchor and proceed- 
ed to Cape Antonio, an appointed place of ren- 
dezvous on the extreme western termination of 
the island. 

Here Cortez completed his preparations and 



54 Hernando Cortez. 

The armament. Personal appearance of Cortez. 

collected all the force he desired. He had now 
eleven vessels. The largest was of but one 
hundred tons. Three were of but seventy tons, 
and the rest were open barks. His whole 
force consisted of one hundred and ten seamen, 
five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, two hun- 
dred Indians, and a few Indian women for me- 
nial service. His regular soldiers consisted of 
sixteen horsemen, thirty musketeers, and thir- 
ty-two cross-bowmen. He had also, as the 
most formidable part of his armament, fourteen 
pieces of artillery, with an ample supply of am- 
munition. All the soldiers, excepting the mus- 
keteers and the bowmen, were armed simply 
with swords and spears. Sixteen horses form- 
ed also an exceedingly important part of the 
physical force of the army. This noble animal 
had never yet been seen on the continent of 
America. With great difficulty, a few had been 
transported across the ocean from Spain. With 
such a force this enthusiastic adventurer under- 
took the subjugation of a nation of many mill- 
ions. 

Cortez was now thirty-three years of age. 
He was a handsome, well-formed man, of me- 
dium stature, of pale, intellectual features, with 
a piercing, dark eye, and frank and winning 



Early Life of Coetez. 55 

The eve of departure. The harangue. 

manners. He was temperate, indifferent re- 
specting all personal comforts, and reckless of 
hardship and peril. He fully appreciated the 
influence of dress, and ever appeared in the rich 
garb of a Spanish gentleman. He was court- 
ly yet frank in his manners, and possessed a 
peculiar power of attracting to his person all 
who approached him. 

On the eve of his departure from Cape An- 
tonio, he again assembled his followers around 
him, and thus harangued them : 

*' The enterprise in which you are engaged 
will fill the world with your renown. I am 
leading you to countries more vast and opulent 
than European eyes have ever yet beheld. It 
is a glorious prize which I present to you. But 
this prize can only be won by hardship and 
toil. Great deeds are only achieved by great 
exertions. Glory is never the reward of sloth. 
I have labored hard and staked my all on this 
undertaking, for I love that renown which is 
the noblest recompense of man. 

" Do you covet riches more ? Be true to me, 
and I will make you masters of wealth of which 
you have never dreamed. You are few in nura^ 
bers, but be strong in resolution, and doubt not 
that the Almighty, who has never deserted the 



56 Hernando Cortez. 

Result of the speech. The squadron sails, 

Spaniard in his contest with the infidel, will 
shield yon, though encompassed by enemies. 
Your cause is just. You are to fight under 
the banner of the cross. Onward, then, with 
alacrity. Gloriously terminate the work so 
auspiciously begun." 

This speech was received with tumultuous 
cheers. Mass was then celebrated by the ec- 
clesiastics who accompanied the fleet, and with 
many religious ceremonies the squadron was 
placed under the protection of St. Peter. The 
anchors were raised, the sails were spread, and 
a favoring breeze pressed them rapidly over the 
waves toward the setting sun. It was the 18th 
of February, 1519. 



The Voyage to Mexico. 57 

The voyage. They reach the island of Cozumel. 



Chapter III. 
The Voyage to Mexico. 

LIGHT and variable winds retarded the 
progress of the squadron as it was headed 
in a southwesterly direction toward the shores 
of Yucatan. A terrible tempest succeeded, and 
the ships were driven wildly before the storm. 
But after the lapse of about a week, as the 
storm abated, they were cheered by the sight 
of land. The mountains of the island of Cozu- 
mel rose towering before them. This large isl- 
and is separated from the main land of Yucatan 
by a channel of from twelve to thirty miles in 
width. 

When the natives saw the ships approaching, 
they fled from the shores in terror. Such a 
fleet must have, indeed, presented to the artless 
inhabitants an appalling spectacle. The squad- 
ron cast anchor in a spacious bay, and those 
who first arrived were the first to land. The 
captain of one of the vessels, with some of his 
crew, entered one of the native temples, and, 
seeing the idol decorated with gold, seized the 



58 Hernando Cortez. 

Treasures seized. The island and its inhabitants. 

treasure promptly as lawful prize, and also cap- 
tured two or three of the natives. Cortez was 
indignant at conduct so rash and impolitic. He 
severely rebuked the over-zealous captain, or- 
dered the ornaments to be replaced, and libera- 
ted the captives and loaded them with presents. 
He thus appeased the fears of the natives, and 
induced them to return to their dwellings. 
They soon became quite reconciled to the stran- 
gers, and opened with them a lucrative traffic. 
The island was not very fertile, and was thinly 
inhabited ; but the natives had large and com- 
fortable houses, built of stone cemented with 
mortar. There were several spacious temples, 
with lofty towers, constructed of the same du- 
rable materials. The adventurers were also 
exceedingly surprised to find in the court-yard 
of one of the temples an idol in the form of a 
massive stone cross. It was erected in honor of 
the god of rain. It is, indeed, a curious question, 
and one which probably will never be answer- 
ed, how the natives of this new world obtained 
those apparently shadowy ideas of Christianity, 
They certainly performed the rite of baptism. 
The cross was one of their idols. They also be- 
lieved in original sin, which w^as to be in some 
way removed by sprinkling an infant with water. 



The Voyage to Mexico. 59 

Exploring parties to the main land. Missionary labors. 

Cortez remained upon this island about a 
fortnight. During this time all his energies 
were engrossed in accomplishing the great ob- 
ject of his mission. He sent two vessels to the 
main land to make inquiries about some Span- 
iards, who, it was reported, had been shipwreck- 
ed upon the coast, and were still lingering in 
captivity. The captain in command of this ex- 
pedition was instructed to return within eight 
days. Several parties were also sent in various 
directions to explore the island thoroughly and 
ascertain its resources. 

But one of the most important objects, in the 
estimation of Cortez, to be accomplished, was 
the conversion of the natives to the Catholic re- 
ligion. He had with him several ecclesiastics 
— -men whose sincerity no candid man can doubt. 
The Indians were assembled, and urged, through 
an interpreter, to abandon their idols and turn 
to the living God. The simple natives under- 
stood but little of the harangue, except the in- 
junction to destroy their idols. At this sug- 
gestion they were horror-stricken. They as- 
sured Cortez that were they to harm or insult 
their gods, destruction in every awful form 
would immediately overwhelm them. 

The bold warrior wielded bold arguments. 



60 Heenando Cortez. 

The first mass. Miraculous conversions. 

His logic was truly military. With his mailed 
cavaliers he made a prompt onslaught upon the 
idols, hewed them down, smashed them to pieces, 
and tumbled the dishonored and mutilated frag- 
ments into the streets. He then constructed a 
Christian altar, reared a cross and an image of 
the holy Virgin and the holy child, and mass, 
with all its pomp of robes, and chants, and in- 
cense, was for the first time performed in the 
temples of Yucatan. 

The natives were at first overwhelmed with 
grief and terror as they gazed upon their pros- 
trate deities. But no earthquake shook the isl- 
and ; no lightning sped its angry bolt ; no thun- 
der broke down the skies. The sun still shone 
tranquilly, and ocean, earth, and sky smiled un- 
troubled. The natives ceased to fear gods who 
could not protect themselves, and without far- 
ther argument consented to exchange their un- 
gainly idols for the far prettier idols of the stran- 
gers. The heart of Cortez throbbed with en- 
thusiasm and pride as he contemplated his great 
and glorious achievement — an achievement, in 
his view, unparalleled by the miracles of Peter 
or of Paul. In one short fortnight he had con- 
verted these islanders from the service of Satan, 
and had won them to that faith whicli would 



The Voyage to Mexico. 63 

Return of the exploring party. Arrival of Aguilar. 

secure their eternal salvation. The fanatic sin- 
cerity with which this deed was accomplished 
does not redeem it from the sublimity of absurd- 
ity. Faith, said these mailed theologians, saves 
the soul; and these pagans have now turned 
from their idols to the living God. It is true 
that man is saved by faith, but it is that faith 
which works by love. 

In the mean time the parties returned from 
the exploration of the island, and Orday brought 
back his two ships from the main land. He 
was unsuccessful in his attempts to find the 
shipwrecked Spaniards. Cortez had now been 
at Cozumel a fortnight. As he was on the 
point of taking his departure, a frail canoe was 
seen crossing the strait, with three men in it, 
apparently Indians, and entirely naked. As 
soon as the canoe landed, one of the men ran 
frantically to the Spaniards and informed them 
that he was a Christian and a countryman. His 
name was Aguilar. 

Seven years ago, the vessel in which he was 
sailing from Darien to Hispaniola foundered in 
a gale. The ship's company, twenty in num- 
ber, took to the boats. For thirteen days they 
were driven about at the mercy of the winds 
and currents. Seven perished miserably from 



64 Hernando Cortez. 

History of Aguilar's life at Yucatan. Escape and capture. 

hunger and thirst. The rest reached the bar- 
barian shores of Yucatan. The natives seized 
them as captives, guarded them carefully, but 
fed them abundantly with the choicest food, 
and inflicted upon them no sufferings, and re- 
quired of them no toil. Their treatment was 
an enigma which was soon dreadfully ex- 
plained. 

One day four of these captives who were in 
the best condition were selected, sacrificed upon 
the bloody altars of the idols, and their cooked 
flesh served up for a cannibal repast. The 
bowlings of the savages over the midnight or- 
gies of this horrible entertainment fell dismally 
upon the ears of the miserable survivors. In 
their despair they succeeded in escaping, and 
fled to the mountain forests. Here they wan- 
dered for a time in the endurance of awful suf- 
ferings. At length they were again taken cap- 
tive by the cacique or chief of another province. 
He spared their lives, but made them menial 
slaves. Their masters were merciless and ex- 
acting in the extreme. Under this rigorous 
treatment all died but two — Aguilar, a priest, 
and Guerrero, a sailor. The sailor, having no 
scruples of any kind, and being ready to con- 
form himself to all customs, gradually acquired 



The Voyage to Mexico. 65 

Guerrero lakes to savage life. Escape. 

the good will of the savages. He obtained re- 
nown as a warrior ; identified himself entirely 
with the natives ; tattooed his face ; slit his 
ears, his lips, and his nose, for those dangling 
ornaments which ever accompany a barbarian 
taste, and took to him a native wife. 

Aguilar, however, was a man of more culti- 
vation and refinement. He cherished his self- 
respect, and, resisting all enticements to marry 
an Indian maiden, was true to the vows of cel- 
ibacy which his priestly profession imposed. 
Curious stories are related of the temptations to 
which the natives exposed him. Weary years 
lingered along, presenting no opportunity for 
escape. Cortez at last arrived at Cozumel. 
Some Indians carried the tidings into the inte- 
rior. Aguilar received this intelligence with 
transport, and yet with trembling. He, how- 
ever, succeeded in reaching the coast, accom- 
panied by two friendly natives. He found upon 
the beach a stranded canoe, half buried in the 
sand. Embarking in this with his two com- 
panions, they paddled themselves across the 
strait, at that place twelve miles wide, to the 
island. The frail boat was seen by the party 
of Cortez upon the surface of the sea. As soon 
as Aguilar landed he dropped upon his knees, 
E 



66 Hernando Cortez. 

Guerrero remains with the savages. Squadron again sails, 

and with streaming eyes gave thanks to God 
for his escape. 

His companion in captivity refused to accom- 
pany him. "Brother Aguilar," said he, after a 
moment's thought, "I am married. I have 
three sons, and am a cacique and captain in 
the wars. My face is tattooed and my ears 
"bored. What would the Spaniards think of 
me should I now go among them ?" All Agui- 
lar's entreaties for him to leave were unavailing. 

Aguilar appears to have been truly a good 
man. As he had acquired a perfect acquaint- 
ance with the language of the natives, and with 
their manners and customs, Cortez received him 
as a heaven-sent acquisition to his enterprise. 

On the 4th of March the squadron again set 
sail, and, crossing the narrow strait, approach- 
ed the shores of the continent. Sailing direct- 
ly north some hundred miles, hugging the coast 
of Yucatan, Cortez doubled Cape Catoche, and 
turning his prow to the west, boldly pressed 
forward into those unknown waters which seem- 
ed to extend interminably before him. The 
shores were densely covered with the luxuriant 
foliage of the tropics, and in many a bay and 
on many a headland could be discerned the 
thronged dwellings of the natives. 



The Voyage to Mexico. 67 

They enter the Tabasco. They ascend the river. Landing postponed. 

After sailing west about two hundred miles, 
they found the coast again turning abruptly to 
the south. Following the line of the land some 
three hundred miles farther, they came to the 
broad mouth of the Hiver Tabasco, which Gri- 
jalva had entered, and which Cortez was seek- 
ing. A sand-bar at the mouth of the river pre- 
vented the heavily-loaded vessels from passing. 
Cortez, therefore, cast anchor, and taking a 
strong and well-armed party in the boats, as- 
cended the shallow stream. 

A forest of majestic trees, with underwood 
dense and impervious, lined the banks. The 
naked forms of the natives were seen gliding 
among the foliage, following, in rapidly-accu- 
mulating numbers, the advance of the boats, 
and evincing, by tone and gesture, any thing but 
a friendly spirit. At last, arriving at an open- 
ing in the forest, Avhere a smooth and grassy 
meadow extended with gradual ascent from 
the stream, the boats drew near the shore, and 
Cortez, through his interpreter Aguilar, asked 
permission to land, avowing his friendly inten- 
tions. The prompt answer was the clash of 
weapons and shouts of defiance. 

Upon this Cortez decided to postpone a for- 
cible landing until the morning, and retired to 



68 Hernando Cortez. 

Encampment. Preparation for the conflict. The reception; 

a small island in the river which was uninhab- 
ited. He here encamped for the night, estab- 
lishing a vigilant line of sentinels to guard 
against surprise. 

In the early dawn of the next morning the 
party were assembled for prayers and for the 
celebration of mass. They then, with new zeal 
and courage, entered their boats, and ascended 
the glassy, forest-fringed stream, upon which 
the morning sun shone brightly. Bird-songs 
mied the air, and hardly a breath of wind moved 
the leaves, glittering in the brilliant sunlight, as 
these bronzed men of iron sinews moved stern- 
ly on to the demoniac deeds of war. The na- 
tives, in preparation for the conflict, had been 
all the night rallying their forces. The shore 
was lined with their war-canoes, and the banks 
were covered with Indian troops drawn up in 
martial array. Gorgeous plumes decorated 
their persons, and the rays of the sun were re- 
flected from their polished weapons. As soon 
as the Spanish boats appeared, the vast army 
of the natives raised shouts of defiance, and the 
ear was almost deafened with the clangor of 
their trumpets and drums. 

The battle soon commenced. The sky was 
almost darkened by the shower of arrows thrown 



The Voyage to Mexico. 69 

The battle. The charge. Victory. March to Tabasco. 

by those upon the land. The warriors in the 
canoes fought fiercely with their javelins. The 
conflict was bloody, but short. Native valor 
could avail but little against European disci- 
pline and art. The spears, stones, and arrows 
of the natives fell almost harmless upon the hel- 
mets and shields of the Spaniards ; but the bul- 
lets from the guns of the invaders swept like 
hail-stones through the crowded ranks of the 
natives, unimpeded by their frail weapons of de- 
fense. Cortez himself headed a charge which 
broke resistlessly into the hostile ranks. Ap- 
palled by the terrific thunder and lightning of 
the musketry, the Indians soon scattered and 
fled, leaving the ground covered with their slain. 
Cortez now reviewed his troops in triumph 
upon the shore. He found that fourteen were 
wounded, but none slain. To attend to the 
wounded and to rest his exhausted men, he 
again encamped. The bloodstained banner of 
the cross, which they had so signally dishon- 
ored, floated proudly over their intrenchments. 
Prayers were offered and mass celebrated in 
honor of the victory achieved by Christian arms 
against idolaters. The next morning the Span- 
iards marched unresisted to Tabasco, the capi- 
tal of the province, a large town upon the river. 



70 Hernando CoETEZ. 

Possession taken of the town. Gathering of the natives. 

but a few miles abov^e the place where the in- 
vaders had effected a landing. The inhabitants, 
men, women, and children, fled from the place 
in dismay. 

Cortez took possession of the town in the 
name of the King of Spain. But the whole 
surrounding region was now aroused. The na- 
tives, in numbers which could not be counted, 
gathered in the vicinity of Tabasco, and organ- 
ized their forces anew, to repel, if possible, the 
terrible foe. They were assembled on the great 
plain of Ceutla. Cortez had anticipated this, 
and was also gathering his strength for a de- 
cisive battle. He sent to the ships for six 
pieces of cannon, his whole cavalry of sixteen 
horses, and every available man. A few only 
were left to guard the vessels. This powerful 
re-enforcement soon arrived. Thus strength- 
ened, his whole army was called together to 
celebrate the solemnities of mass, and to implore 
the blessing of God in extending the triumphs 
of the cross over the kingdom of Satan. Thus 
they marched forth, with powder, and ball, and 
neighing steeds, to the merciless slaughter of 
those brave men who were fighting for their 
country and their homes. 

The Spaniards now advanced to meet their 



The Voyage to Mexico. 71 

The two armies meet. The conflict. 

foes. It was a lovely morning, the 25tli of 
March. The natives, in point of civilization, 
raised far above the condition of savages, had 
large fields in a high state of cultivation, wav- 
ing with the rich vegetation of the tropics. 
After a march of three or four miles through a 
country cultivated like a garden, they arrived 
at the ground occupied by the native army. 
The lines of their encampments were so extend- 
ed and yet so crowded that the Spaniards esti- 
mated their numbers at over forty thousand. 
To meet them in the strife Cortez had but six 
hundred men. But his terrible engines of de- 
struction made his force more powerful than 
theirs. The natives were ready for the battle. 
They greeted their assailants with a war-whoop, 
which rose in thunder tones over the plain, and 
showered upon them volleys of arrows, sling- 
stones, and javelins. At this first discharge, 
seventy Spaniards were wounded and one was 
slain. The conflict soon raged with all imagin- 
able horrors. The natives fought with the cour- 
age of desperation. They seemed even regard- 
less of the death-dealing muskets. And when 
the terrible cannon, with its awful roar, opened 
huge gaps in their ranks, manfully they closed 
up, and with new vigor pressed the onset. The 



72 Hernando Cortez. 

The caralry charge. Terror of the natives. The flight. 

odds were so fearful that for some time it seem- 
ed quite doubtful on which side victory would 
rest. 

Cortez, heading his cavalry, swept around the 
plain, and, hy a circuitous route, came unper- 
ceived upon the rear of the tumultuous foe. 
The sixteen horsemen, clad in steel, urging 
their horses to their utmost speed, with loud 
shouts and sabres gleaming in the air, plunged 
into the midst of the throng. Their keen-edged 
swords fell on the right hand and on the left 
upon the almost naked bodies of the natives. 
At the same moment, the energies of musketry 
and artillery were plied with murderous car- 
nage. 

The natives had never seen a horse before. 
They thought the rider and the steed one ani- 
mal. As these terrific monsters, half human, 
half beast, came bounding into their midst, cut- 
ting down and trampling beneath iron hoofs all 
wlio stood in the way, while at the same time 
the appalling roar of the cannonade seemed to 
shake the very hills, the scene became too aw- 
ful for mortal courage to endure. The whole 
mighty mass, in uncontrollable dismay, fled 
from the presence of foes of such demoniac as- 
pect and energy. The slaughter of these poor 



The Voyage to Mexico. 75 



Estimates of the number killed. The declaration. 



Indians was so awful that some of the Span- 
iards extravagantly estimated the number left 
dead upon the field at thirty thousand. Though 
many of the Spaniards were wounded, but two 
were killed. 

Cortez immediately assembled his army un- 
der a grove upon the field of battle to give 
thanks to God for the victory. The pomp and 
pageantry of war gave place to the pomp and 
pageantry of the Church. Canonical robes and 
banners fluttered in the breeze, processions 
marched, the smoke of incense floated in the 
air, and mass, with all its imposing solemnities, 
was celebrated in the midst of prayers and 
thanksgivings. 

"Then," says Diaz, "after dressing our 
wounds with the fat of Indians whom we found 
dead thereabout, and having placed good guards 
round our post, we ate our supper and went to 
our repose." 

Under the placable influence of these devo- 
tions, the conqueror sent word to the vanquish- 
ed that he would now forgive them if they 
would submit unconditionally to his authority. 
But he declared that if they refused this, he 
would ride over the land, and put every thing 
in it, man, woman, and child, to the sword. 



76 Heknando Coetez. 

The natives submissive. The new religion. St. Mary of Victory. 

The spirit of resistance was utterly crushed. 
The natives immediately sent a delegation to 
him laden with presents. To impress these 
embassadors still more deeply with a sense of 
his power, he exhibited before them the martial 
evolutions of his cavalry, and showed them the 
effects of his artillery as the balls were sped 
crashing through the trees of the forest. The 
natives were now effectually conquered, and 
looked upon the Spaniards as beings of super- 
natural powers, wielding the terrors of thunder 
and lightning, and whom no mortal energies 
could resist. 

They had become as little children. This 
Cortez thought a very suitable frame of mind 
to secure their conversion. He recommended 
that they should cast down their idols, and ac- 
cept instead the gods of papal Eome. The rec- 
ommendation of Cortez was potent over the now 
pliant natives. They made no opposition while 
the soldiers, whose hands were hardly yet wash- 
ed of the blood of their relatives, hewed down 
their images. With very imposing ceremonies, 
the religion of the conquerors was instituted in 
the temples of Yucatan, and, in honor of the 
Virgin Mary, the name of Tabasco was changed 
into St. Mary of Victory. 



The Voyage to Mexico. 77 

Motives which actuated the adventurers. 

In all this tremendous crime there was ap- 
parently no hypocrisy. Human motives will 
seldom bear rigid scrutiny. Man's best deeds 
are tainted. Cortez was very sincere in his 
desire to overthrow the abominable system of 
idolatry prevailing among the natives. He per- 
haps truly thought that these violent measures 
were necessary to accomplish this object, and 
that Christianity, thus introduced, would prove 
an inestimable blessing. We may abhor his 
conduct, while we can still make generous al- 
lowances for the darkness of his mind and of 
the age in which he lived. It requires infinite 
wisdom to adjust the balance of human deeds. 

Two of the Catholic ecclesiastics, Olmedo and 
Diaz, were probably unaffected Christians, truly 
desiring the spiritual renovation of the Indians. 
They felt deeply the worth of the soul, and did 
all they could rightly to instruct these unhappy 
and deeply-wronged natives. They sincerely 
pitied their sufferings, but deemed it wise that 
the right eye should be plucked out, and that 
the right arm should be cut off, rather than that 
the soul should perish. It is a consoling thought, 
that "like as a father pitieth his children, so 
the Lord pitieth them that fear Him ; for he 
knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we 



78 Heknando Cortez. 

Christian instruction. Principle and practice. The altar. 

are dust." The natives were assembled in 
their temples ; they came together in immense 
multitudes. The priests, through their inter- 
preter, Aguilar, endeavored to instruct them in 
the pure doctrines and the sublime mysteries 
of Christianity. If the natives perceived a 
marked difference between these precepts and 
the awful carnage on the field of Ceutla, it was 
not the first time that principles and practice 
have been found discordant. 

A grand religious ceremony was instituted 
to commemorate the conversion of the nation. 
The whole army took a part in the solemnities 
of the occasion, with all the martial and eccle- 
siastical pomp which their situation could fur- 
nish. The natives in countless multitudes join- 
ed the procession, and gazed with astonishment 
upon the scene. Advancing to the principal 
pyramidal temple of Tabasco, which was an 
enormous structure, with a vast area upon its 
summit, they wound around its sides in the as- 
cent. Upon this lofty platform, beneath the un- 
clouded sun, with thousands of Indians crowd- 
ing the region around to witness the strange 
spectacle, a Christian altar was reared, the im- 
ages of the Savior and of the Virgin were erect-, 
ed, and mass was celebrated. Clouds of in- 



The Voyage to Mexico. 79 

Devotions. Baptism. The presents. Marina. 

cense rose into the still air, and the rich voices 
of the Spanish soldiers swelled the solemn 
chant. It must have been an impressive scene. 
There must have been some there into whose 
eye the tear of devotion gushed. If there were 
in that throng — all of whom have long since 
gone to judgment — one single broken and con- 
trite heart, that was an offering which God could 
accept. Father Olmedo preached upon the oc- 
casion "many good things touching our holy 
faith." Twenty Indian girls who had been 
given to the Spanish captains for wives were 
baptized. 

Cortez having thus, in the course of a week, 
annexed the whole of these new provinces of 
unknown extent to Spain, and having convert- 
ed the natives to Christianity, prepared for his 
departure. The natives, among their propitia- 
tory offerings, had presented to Cortez, as we 
have mentioned, twenty young and beautiful 
females whom they had captured from hostile 
tribes, or who in other ways had become their 
slaves. Cortez distributed these unenlightened 
maidens among his captains, having first select- 
ed one of the youngest and most beautiful of 
them, Marina, for his wife. Cortez had a wor- 
thy spouse upon his plantation at Cuba. No 



80 Hernando Coetez. 

Indulgences. Character of Marina 

civil or religious rites sanctioned this unhallow- 
ed union ; and he was sufficiently instructed 
to know that he was sinning against the laws 
of both God and man ; but the conscience of 
this extraordinary adventurer had become in- 
volved in labyrinths utterly inexplicable. He 
seemed to judge that he was doing so much for 
the cause of Holy Mother Church that his own 
private sins were of little comparative moment.. 
His many good deeds, he appeared to think, 
purchased ample indulgence. 

But Marina was a noble woman. The rela- 
tion which she sustained to Cortez did no vio- 
lence to her instincts or to her conscience. She 
had never been instructed in the school of 
Christ. Polygamy was the religion of her land. 
She deemed herself the honored wife of Cortez. 
and dreamed not of wrong. Marina w^as in all 
respects an extraordinary woman. Nature had 
done much for her. In person she was exceed- 
ingly beautiful. She had winning manners, and 
a warm and loving heart! Her mind was of a 
superior order. She very quickly mastered the 
difficulties of the Castihan tongue, and thus 
spoke three languages with native fluency — 
the Mexican, the Yucatanese, and the Spanish. 
"I am more happy," said she one day, "in 



The Voyage to Mexico. 81 

Her career. Her devotion to Cortez. 

being the wife of my lord and master Cortez, 
and of having a son Ibj him, than if I had been 
sovereign of all of New Spain." 

Her career had been eventful in the extreme. 
She was the daughter of a rich and powerful 
cacique, who was tributary to the Emperor of 
Mexico. Her father died during her infancy, 
and her mother married again. A son by her 
new husband gradually estranged the aifections 
of the unnatural mother from her daughter. 
These feelings increased, till she regarded the 
child with deep dislike, and secretly gave her 
away to some slave-drivers, circulating the re- 
port that the child was dead. The slave-mer- 
chants brought her from her distant home, 
where the language of Mexico was her native 
tongue, and sold her to one of the chiefs of Ta- 
basco. Here she acquired the language of Yu- 
catan. 

There was much in the energy, magnanimity, 
fearlessness, and glowing temperament of Cor- 
tez to rouse a v/oman's love. Marina became 
devotedly attached to him. She watched over 
his interests with a zeal which never slumber- 
ed ; and when she became the mother of his 
son, stiU more tender ties bound her to the con- 
queror of her race. In subsequent scenes of 
¥ 



Hernando Coktez. 



Departure from Tabasco. Blessings left behind. 

difficulty and danger, her acquaintance with the 
native language, manners, and customs made 
her an invaluable acquisition to the expedition. 

After a few days spent at Tabasco, the hour 
for departure came. 

The boats, decorated with the banner of the 
cross, and with palm leaves, the symbols of hap- 
piness and peace, floated down the beautiful 
river to the squadron riding at anchor at its 
mouth. Again spreading the sails, and catch- 
ing a favorable breeze, the adventurers were 
wafted rejoicingly on toward the shores of Mex- 
ico. The newly-converted natives were left to 
meditate upon the instructions which they had 
received — to count the graves of the slain- — to 
heal, as they could, the gory wounds and splin- 
tered bones of their friends, still writhing in an- 
guish, and to v/ail the funeral dirge in the deso- 
late homes of the widow and the orphan. Sel- 
dom, in the history of the world, has such a 
whirlwind of woe so suddenly burst upon any 
people. How long they continued to cherish a 
religion introduced by such harbingers we are 
not informed. 

The sun shone brightly on the broad Mexi- 
can Gulf, and zephyrs laden with fragrance from 
the luxuriant shores swelled the flowing sheets. 



The Voyage to Mexico. 83 

They coast along the shore. Arrival at San Juan de Ulua. 

As the fleet crept along the land, the temples 
and houses of the natives, and their waving 
fields of grain, were distinctly visible from the 
decks. Many a promontory and headland was 
covered with multitudes of tawny figures, dec- 
orated with all the attractions of barbarian 
splendor, gazing upon the fearful phenomena 
of the passing ships. Cortez continued his 
course several hundred miles, sweeping around 
the shores of this magnificent gulf, until he ar- 
rived at the island of San Juan de Ulua. He 
was seeking this spot, which Grijalva had visit- 
ed, and here he dropped his anchors in one of 
the harbors of the empire of Mexico. 



84 Hernando Cortez. 

The fleet anchors. Arrival of the canoea 



Chapter IY. 
FouNDiNa A Colony. 

IT was a beautiful afternoon in April when 
the fleet sailed majestically into the Mexican 
bay. Earth, sea, and sky smiled serenely, and 
all the elements of trouble were lulled into re- 
pose. As the ships glided over the smooth 
waters to their sheltered anchorage, a scene, as 
of enchantment, opened around the voyagers. 
In the distance, on grassy slopes, and in the 
midst of luxuriant groves, the villages and ru- 
ral dwellings of the natives were thickly scat- 
tered. The shores were covered with an eager 
multitude, contemplating with wonder and awe 
the sublime spectacle of the fleet. 

Hardly were the anchors dropped ere two 
canoes shot from the shore, filled with natives. 
The ship in which Cortez sailed was more im- 
posing than the rest, and the banner of Spain 
floated proudly from its topmast. The Mexi- 
cans steered promptly for this vessel, and, with 
the most confiding frankness, ascended its sides. 
Two of the persons in these boats were men of 



Founding a Colony. 85 



The two chiefs. The legend. The presents. 

high distinction in the Mexican empire. As 
Marina understood their language perfectly, and 
the liberated Spanish captive Aguilar was thor- 
oughly acquainted with the language of the Ta- 
bascans, there was no diflficultj in the inter- 
change of ideas. One of these men was the 
governor of the province in which. Cortez had 
landed ; the other was commander-in-chief o£ 
all the military forces in that province. It has 
been mentioned that Grijalva had previously 
landed at this spot, and given it the name of 
San Juan de Ulua. The Mexicans had thus 
some knowledge of the formidable strangers 
who were invading the New World, and in va- 
rious ways tidings, for now the quarter of a 
century, had been reaching their ears of the ap- 
palling power of this new race. 

Perhaps to this fact is to be attributed the 
general and discouraging impression which then 
prevailed, that a fearful calamity which nothing 
could avert was impending over the nation ; 
that it was the decree of destiny that a strange 
race, coming from the rising of the sun, should 
overwhelm and desolate their country. 

The two chiefs brought Cortez a present of 
bread, fruit, fowls, flowers, and golden orna- 
ments. The interview was conducted by the 



86 Heenando Cortez. 



The interview. The government of the empire. Cortez lands. 



intercliange of the most formal social ceremo- 
nies of Mexico and of Spain. Cortez invited his 
guests to remain and dine. The communica- 
tion between them was necessarily slow, as Ma- 
rina interpreted their speech to Aguilar, and 
Aguilar to Cortez. The Spanish commander, 
however, thus ascertained the most important 
facts which he wished to know respecting the 
great empire of Mexico. He learned that two 
hundred miles in the interior was situated the 
capital of the empire, and that a monarch 
named Montezuma, beloved and revered by his 
subjects, reigned over the extended realm. The 
country was divided into provinces, over each 
of which a governor presided. The province in 
which Cortez had landed was under the sway 
of Governor Teutile, who resided about twenty 
miles in the interior. 

Cortez, though uninvited, immediately, with 
great energy and boldness, landed his whole 
force upon the beach. He constructed a forti- 
fied camp, and planted his heavy artillery upon 
the surrounding hillocks to sweep all the ap- 
proaches. Characteristically it is recorded that, 
having posted their artillery, they raised an aU 
tar, and not till after that was done did they 
erect barracks for themselves. The friendly 



Founding a Colony. 87 

Scene on the shore, Visit of Governor Teutile. 

natives aided the Spaniards in building huts, 
brought them presents of flowers and food, and 
entered into an active traffic, in which both par- 
ties exulted in the great bargains which they 
made. Thus the Mexicans warmed the vipers 
who were fatally to sting them. 

It was indeed a novel scene, w^orthy of the 
pencil of the painter, which that beach present- 
ed day after day. Men, women, and children, 
boys and girls, in all the variety of barbaric 
costume, thronged the encampment. Mexicans 
and Spaniards mingled merrily in all the peace- 
ful and joyful confusion of a fair. The rumor 
of the strange visitors spread far and wide, and 
each day increasing multitudes were assembled. 

The intelligence was speedily communicated 
to Governor Teutile. With a numerous reti- 
nue, he set out from his palace to visit his unin- 
vited guests, and to ascertain their object and 
purposes. The governor entered the Spanish 
camp accompanied by the commander-in-chief 
of all the provincial forces. Each party vied 
in the external demonstrations of respect and 
friendship. The eyes of the Spaniards glisten- 
ed with avarice as Teutile spread before Cortez 
many valuable ornaments of massive silver and 
gold, wrought in exquisite workrnanshjp. The 



88 Hernando CoETEZ. 



Cortez's speech. Teutile's uneasiness. His reply. 

sight inflamed them with more intense desires 
to penetrate a country where such treasures 
could be obtained. After a splendid repast 
given by the Spaniards, Cortez said to his vis- 
itors, 

"I am the subject of Charles V., the most 
powerful monarch in the world. My sovereign 
has heard of the greatness and the glory of Mon- 
tezuma, the Emperor of Mexico. I am sent to 
his court to convey the respects of my sover- 
eign, to offer suitable presents, and to confer 
with him upon matters of great moment. It is 
therefore my desire to proceed immediately to 
the capital, to accomplish the purposes of my 
mission." 

Teutile could not conceal the uneasiness with 
which he heard this avowal. He knew that 
Montezuma and all the most intelligent men of 
the nation contemplated with dread the power 
and the encroachments of the Europeans, now 
so firmly established on the islands of the Ca- 
ribbean Sea. With embarrassment he replied, 

"I hear with pleasure of the magnificence of 
your sovereign. Our monarch is not less glo- 
rious. No earthly king can surpass him in 
wealth or goodness. You have been but a few 
days in these realms, and yet you are impatient 



Founding a Colony. 89 

jiimbassadors to be sent to Montezuma. Picture writing. 

to be admitted, without delay, into the presence 
of Montezuma. Our king will doubtless hear 
with pleasure from your sovereign, and receive 
his embassador honorably. But it will be first 
necessary to inform him of your arrival, that 
he may communicate to you his royal pleas- 
ure." 

Cortez was exceedingly annoyed by this de- 
lay. Deeming it, however, important to secure 
the friendship of the Mexicans, he consented to 
wait until the return of the couriers who were 
immediately to be sent to Montezuma. The 
natives were not acquainted with the alphabet, 
but they had in use a sort of picture writing, 
delineating upon fine cotton cloth pictures of 
scenes which they wished to represent. Teu- 
tile requested that his painters might be per- 
mitted to take a sketch of the Spaniards and 
their equipage. Consent being obtained, the 
painters commenced their work, which they ex- 
ecuted with remarkable rapidity and skill. The 
fleet in the harbor, the encampment upon the 
shore, the muskets, the artillery, the horses, all 
were delineated true to life. They were so ac- 
curate in the figures and portraits of Cortez and 
his leading companions that the Spaniards im- 
mediately recognized them. 



90 Hernando Coetez. 

Military review. The manoeuvres.- 

When Cortez observed this remarkable skill, 
that he might impress Montezuma the more 
deeply with a sense of his power, he ordered his 
whole force to be assembled for a military re- 
view. The trumpets pealed forth the martial 
summons which the well-drilled bands so per- 
fectly understood. The troops instantly form- 
ed in order of battle. Infantry, artillery, cav- 
alry, all were at their posts. The most intri- 
cate and beautiful manoeuvres were performed. 
Martial music contributed its thrilling charms ; 
banners floated in the breeze ; helmets, cuirass- 
es, swords, and polished muskets gleamed in 
the rays of the unclouded sun. Mounted horse- 
men bounded over the plain in the terrific charge, 
and the artillerymen, with rapid evolutions, 
moved to and fro, dragging over the sands their 
lumbering yet mysterious engines of destruc- 
tion, whose awful roar and terrific power the 
Mexicans had not yet witnessed. It was a gor- 
geous spectacle even to eyes accustomed to such 
scenes. The Mexicans, in countless thousands, 
gazed upon it in silent amazement. But when, 
at the close, Cortez placed his cannon in bat- 
tery, and ordered a simultaneous discharge, 
aiming the heavily-shotted guns into the dense 
forest, the bewilderment of the poor natives 



Founding a Colony. 91 



Terror of the natives. Departure of the runners. Police regulations 

passed awaj into unspeakable teiTor. They 
saw the lightning flash, they heard the roar, 
louder than the heaviest thunders. As the iron 
storm was shot through the forest, the limbs of 
the gigantic trees came crashing to the ground. 
Dense volumes of sulphurous smoke enveloped 
them. Even the boldest turned pale, and the 
timid shrieked and fled. 

Cortez was much pleased in seeing how deep- 
ly he had impressed his visitors with a sense 
of his power. The painters made a very accu- 
rate delineation of the whole scene to be trans- 
mitted to Montezuma. They then, with much 
ceremony, departed. 

The police regulations of Mexico were in 
some respects in advance of that which then 
prevailed in Europe. For the rapid transmis- 
sion of intelligence from the remotest bounds of 
the empire to the capital, well-trained runners 
were posted, at suitable stations, all along the 
principal roads. Each man had a short stage, 
which he passed over with great rapidity, and 
communicated his message, verbal or written in 
the picture language, to a fresh runner. Bur- 
dens and governmental officers were also rapid- 
ly transmitted, in a sort of palanquin, in the 
same way, from post to post, by relays of men. 



92 Heenando Cortez. 

Kindness of the natives. Arrival of the embassy. 

A week passed while Cortez remained impa- 
tiently in his encampment awaiting an answer 
to the message sent to Montezuma. The friend- 
ly natives, in the mean time, supplied the Span- 
iards with every thing they could need. By 
the command of the governor, Teutile, niore 
than a thousand huts of branches of trees and 
of cotton matting were reared in the vicinity of 
the encampment for the accommodation of the 
Mexicans, who, without recompense, were abun- 
dantly supplying the table of Cortez and of his 
troops. 

On the eighth day an embassy arrived at the 
camp from the Mexican capital. Two nobles 
of the court, accompanied by a retinue of a 
hundred, men of burden, laden with magnificent 
gifts from Montezuma, presented themselves 
before the pavilion of Cortez. The embassa- 
dors saluted the Spanish chieftain with the 
greatest reverence, bowing before him, and sur- 
rounding him with clouds of incense, which 
arose from waving censers borne by their at- 
tendants. The presents which they brought, 
in silver, in gold, in works of art, utility, and 
beauty, excited the rapture and the amazement 
of the Spaniards. There were specimens of 
workmanship in the precious metais which no 



Founding a Colony. 95 

Message from Montezuma. Chagrin of Cortez. 

artists in Europe could rival. A Spanish hel- 
met wliicli liad been sent to Montezuma was 
returned filled with grains of pure gold. These 
costly gifts were opened before Cortez in lavish 
abundance, and thej gave indications of opu- 
lence hitherto imdreamed of. After thej had 
been sufficiently examined and admired, one of 
the embassadors very courteously said, 

"Our. master is happy to send these tokens 
of his respect to the King of Spain. He re- 
grets that he can not enjoy an interview with 
the Spaniards. But the distance of his capital 
is too great, and the perils of the journey are 
too imminent to allow of this pleasure. The 
strangers are therefore requested to return to 
their own homes with these proofs of the friend- 
ly feelings of Montezuma." 

Cortez was much chagrined. He earnestly, 
however, renewed his application for permission 
to visit the emperor. But the embassadors, 
as they retired, assured him that another appli- 
cation would be unavailing. They, however, 
took a few meagre presents of shirts and toys, 
which alone remained to Cortez, and departed 
on their journey of two hundred miles, with 
the reiterated and still more earnest application 
from Cortez for permission to visit the emper- 



96 Hernando Cortez. 

Disaffection in the camp. Second message from Montezuma. 

or. It was now evident that the Mexicans had 
received instructions from the court, and that 
all were anxious that the Spaniards should 
leave the country. Though the natives mani- 
fested no hostility, they immediately became 
cold and reserved, and ceased to supply the 
camp with food. With the Spaniards the 
charm of novelty was over. Insects annoyed 
them. They were blistered by the rays of a 
meridian sun, reflected from the burning sands 
of the beach. Sickness entered the camp, and 
thirty died. Disaffection began to manifest it- 
self, and some were anxious to return to Cuba. 
But the treasures which had been received 
from Montezuma, so rich and so abundant, in- 
spired Cortez and his gold-loving companions 
with the most intense desire to penetrate an em- 
pire of so much opulence. They, however, 
waited patiently ten days, when the embassa- 
dors again returned. As before, they came lad- 
en with truly imperial gifts. The gold alone of 
the ornaments which they brought was valued- 
by the Spaniards at more than fifty thousand 
dollars. The message from Montezuma was, 
however, still more peremptory than the first. 
He declared that he could not permit the Span- 
iards to approach his capital. Cortez, though 



Founding a Colony. 97 

The Ave Maria. Curiosity of the natives. The sermon. 

excessively vexed, endeavored to smother the 
outward expression of his irritation. He gave 
the embassadors a courteous response, but, turn- 
ing to his officers, he said, 

"This is truly a rich and a powerful prince. 
Yet it shall go hard but we will one day pay 
him a visit in his capital." 

"At this moment," says Diaz, "the bell 
tolled for the Ave Maria, and all of us fell upon 
our knees before the holy cross. The Mexican 
noblemen being very inquisitive to know the 
meaning of this, Cortez hinted to the reverend 
father Olmedo the propriety of a sermon, such 
as should convey to them the truths of our holy 
faith. Father Olmedo accordingly preached, 
like an excellent theologian which he was, ex- 
plaining the mysteries of the cross, at the sight 
of which the evil beings they worshiped as gods 
fled away. These subjects, and much more, he 
dilated upon. It was perfectly explained to 
the Mexicans and understood by them, and 
they promised to relate all they had seen and 
heard to their sovereign. He also declared to 
them that among the principal objects of our 
mission thither were those of putting a stop to 
human sacrifices, injustices, and idolatrous wor- 
ship ; and then, presenting them with an image 
G 



98 Hernando Cortez. 

Presentation of the crucifix. Desertion of tiie huts. The mutiny. 

of our Holy Yirgin, with her son in her arms, 
he desired them to take it with them, to vene- 
rate it, and to plant crosses similar to that be- 
fore them in their temples." 

The embassadors again retired with dignity 
and with courtesy, yet with reserve indicative 
of deep displeasure at the pertinacity of the 
Spaniards. That night every hut of the natives 
was abandoned. When the morning sun arose, 
silence and solitude reigned upon the spot which 
had so recently witnessed the life and the clam- 
or of an innumerable multitude. Cortez and 
bis companions were left alone. The long hours 
of the tropical day passed slowly, and no native 
approached the encampment. 'No food was to 
be obtained. Not only was all friendly inter- 
course thus suspended, but the Spaniards had 
much reason to fear that preparations were mak- 
ing for an assault. The murmuring in the camp 
increased. Two parties were formed : one party 
were in favor of returning to Cuba, affirming 
that it was madness to think of the subjugation 
by force of arms of so mighty an empire with 
so feeble an armament. One of the generals, 
Diego de Ordaz, was deputed by the disaffected 
to communicate these sentiments to Cortez, and 
lo assure him that it was the general voice of 
the army. 



Founding a Colony. 99 

Shrewdness. The mutineers outwitted. Success of the scheme. 

The shrewdness of this extraordinary man 
was peculiarly conspicuous in this crisis. He 
promptly, and apparently with cordiality, as- 
sented to their views, and began to make ar- 
rangements to relinquish the enterprise. Orders 
were issued to commence the re-embarkation. 

While thus dissimulating, he roused his 
friends to effort, and secretly employed all his 
powers to excite a mutiny in the camp against 
a return. Every motive was plied to stimulate 
the bold and the avaricious to persevere in an 
undertaking where glory and wealth held out 
such attractions. His emissaries were com- 
pletely successful. The whole camp was in a 
ferment. Before the sun went down, a large 
party of the soldiers surrounded his tent, as in 
open mutiny. They declared that, having en- 
tered upon a majestic enterprise, it was pol- 
trooneiy to abandon it upon the first aspect of 
danger ; that they were determined to perse- 
vere, and that, if Cortez wished to return with. 
the cowards to Cuba, they would instantly 
choose another general to guide them in the 
career of glory upon which they had entered. 

Cortez was delighted with tlie success of his 
stratagem. He, however, affected surprise, and. 
declared that his orders for re-embarking werer 



100 Hernando Cortez. 

Enthusiasm. Council elected for tlie new colony. 

issued from the persuasion that the troops wish- 
ed to return ; that, to gratify them, he had been 
willing to sacrifice his own private judgment. 
He assured the mutineers that it afforded him 
the highest gratification to find that they were 
true Castilians, with minds elevated to the ac- 
complishment of heroic deeds. He afiirmed 
that before such strong arms and bold hearts 
all peril would vanish. The applause with 
which this speech was greeted was so long and 
enthusiastic that even the murmurers were soon 
induced to join the acclamations. Thus adroit- 
ly Cortez again enthroned himself as the undis- 
puted chieftain of an enthusiastic band.'c 

He decided immediately to establish a settle- 
ment on the sea-coast as the nucleus of a col- 
ony. From that point as the basis of opera- 
tions, he would, with the terrors of artillery and 
cavalry, boldly penetrate the interior. He as- 
sembled the principal officers of the army, and 
by their suffrages elected the magistrates and a 
council for the new colony. He skillfully so 
arranged it that all the magistrates chosen were 
his warm partisans. 

The council assembled for the organization 
of the government. As soon as the assembly 
was convened, Cortez asked permission to enter 



Founding a Colony. 101 

Appearance of Cortez before the assembly. The address. 

it. Bowing with the most profound respect 
before the new government thus organized, that 
he might set an example of the most humble 
and submissive obedience, he addressed them 
in the following terms : 

"By the establishment of the colony and the 
organization of the colonial government, this 
august tribunal is henceforth invested with su^ 
preme jurisdiction, and is clothed with the au- 
thority, and represents the person of the sover- 
eign. I accordingly present myself before you 
with the same dutiful fidelity as if I were ad- 
dressing my royal master. The safety of this 
colony, threatened by the hostility of a mighty 
empire, depends upon the subordination and 
discipline preserved among the troops. But 
my right to command is derived from a com- 
mission granted by the Governor of Cuba. As 
that commission has been long since revoked, 
my right to command may well be questioned. 
It is of the utmost importance, in the present 
condition of affairs, that the commander-in-chief 
should not act upon a dubious title. There is 
now required the most implicit obedience to or- 
ders, and the army can not act with efficiency 
if it has any occasion to dispute the powers of 
its generah 



102 Heenando Gortez. 

Gortez lays down his commission. lie is induced to take it up again, 

"Moved by these considerations, I now re- 
sign into your bands, as the representatives of 
the sovereign, all my anthority. As you alone 
have the right to choose, and the power to con- 
fer full jurisdiction, upon you it devolves to 
choose some one, in the king's name, to guide 
the army in its future operations. For my own 
part, such is my zeal in the service in which 
we are engaged, that I would most cheerfully 
take up a pike with the same hand which lays 
down the general's truncheon, and convince my 
fellow-soldiers that, though accustomed to com- 
mand, I have not forgotten how to obey." 

Thus saying, he laid his commission from 
Velasquez upon the table, and after kissing his 
truncheon, delivered it to the chief magistrate 
and withdrew. This was consummate acting. 
The succeeding steps were all previously ar- 
ranged. He was immediately elected, by unan- 
imous suffrage, chief justice of the colony, and 
captain general of the army. His commission 
was ordered to be made out in the name of 
Charles Y. of Spain, and was to continue in 
force until the royal pleasure should be farther 
known. The troops were immediately assem- 
bled and informed of the resolve. They rati- 
fied it with unbounded applause. The air re- 



FouNDiNa A Colony. 103 

Remonstrance. Mode of reasoning. Envoys of Zempoalla. 

sounded with acclamations, and all vowed obe- 
dience, even to death, to the authority of Cor- 
tez. Thus adroitly this bold adventurer shook 
off his dependence upon Yelasquez, and as- 
sumed the dignity of an independent governor, 
responsible only to his sovereign. 

There were a few adherents of Yelasquez who 
remonstrated against these unprecedented meas- 
ures. Cortez, with characteristic energy, seized 
them and placed them in imprisonment, loaded 
with chains, on board one of the ships. This 
rigor overawed and silenced the rest. Cortez, 
however, soon succeeded, by flattering atten- 
tions and by gifts, in securing a cordial recon- 
ciliation with his opponents. He was now 
strong in undisputed authority. 

In the midst of these events, one day five In- 
dians of rank came, in rather a mysterious man- 
ner, to the camp, and solicited an interview 
with Cortez. They represented themselves as 
envoys from the chief of Zempoalla, a large 
town at no great distance. This chief reigned 
over the powerful nation of Totonacs. His peo- 
ple liad been conquered by Montezuma, and an- 
nexed to the Mexican empire. They were rest- 
ive under the yoke, and would gladly avail 
themselves of an alliance with the Spaniards to 
regain their independence. 



104 Hernando Coetez. 

Prospect of civil war. Resolve to establish a colony at Quiabislan. 

Cortez listened eagerly to this statement. It 
presented just the opportunitj which he desired. 
He saw at once that by exciting civil war, and 
arraying one portion of the empire against an- 
other, he might accomplish his ends. He also 
judged that, in an empire so vast, there must 
he other provinces where disaffection could be 
excited. He therefore received these envoys 
most graciously, and promised very soon to visit 
their metropolis. 

The spot where Cortez had landed was not a 
good location for the establishment of a city. 
A party was sent along the coast to seek a bet- 
ter harbor for the ships and a more eligible site 
for the city. At the expiration of twelve days 
the party returned, having discovered a fine har- 
bor and fertile soil at a little village called Qui- 
abislan, about forty miles to the northward. 
This village was fortunately but a few miles 
distant from Zempoalla. Most of the heavy 
guns were re-embarked, and the fleet was or- 
dered to coast along the shore to the appointed 
rendezvous at Quiabislan. Then, heading his 
troops, he set out on a bold march across the 
country to meet his fleet, arranging to pass 
through Zempoalla by the way. 

The beauty of the country through which 



Founding a Colony. 107 

Beauties of the country, and refinement of the inhabitants. 

they marched entranced the hearts even of these 
stern warriors. They were never weary of ex- 
pressing their delight in view of the terrestrial 
paradise Avhich they had discovered. When 
the Spaniards had arrived within three miles of 
Zempoalla, a delegation met them from the city, 
accompanied by a vast concourse of men and 
women. The adventurers were greeted with 
courteous words, and gifts of gold, and fruits, 
and flowers. The natives possessed many at- 
tractions of person, and their frank and friendly 
manners were peculiarly winning. A singular 
degree of mental refinement was to he seen in 
their passionate love of flowers, with which 
they adorned their persons, and which bloomed, 
in the utmost profusion, around their dwellings. 
Cortez and his steed were almost covered with 
wreaths and garlands of roses, woven by the 
fair hands of his newly-found friends. 

The Spaniards were quite amazed in enter- 
ing the city of Zempoalla. They found a beau- 
tiful town, with streets perfectly clean — for they 
had no beasts of burden — lined with spacious 
stone houses, and shaded with ornamental trees. 
These paved streets were kept almost as free 
from litter as a parlor floor, and they were 
thronged Avith, apparently, a refined and happy 



108 Heenando Coetez. 

Keception at Zempoalla. Cortez offers his services. 

people. A tropical sun, whose rays were tem- 
pered by the ocean breeze, fell warmly npon 
them during all the months of the year. Soil 
of astonishing fertility supplied them abundant- 
ly with food, while a genial climate invited 
them to indulgence and repose. At first glance 
it would seem that the doom of Adam's fall had 
not yet reached the dwellings of Zempoalla. A 
few hours' residence in the city, however, con- 
clusively proved that here, as elsewhere, man 
is born to mourn. 

As Cortez entered the gates of the city, he 
was met and welcomed with great pomp by the 
cacique of Zempoalla. He was excessively 
corpulent, but very polite and highly polished 
in his manners. Marina and Aguilar acted as 
interpreters. 

"I am come," said Cortez, "from the ends 
of the earth. I serve a monarch who is pow- 
erful, and whose goodness equals his power. 
He has sent me hither, that I may give some 
account of the inhabitants of this part of the 
world. He has commanded me to do good to 
all men, and particularly to aid the oppressed 
and to punish their oppressors. To you, Lord 
of Zempoalla, I offer my services. Whatever 
you may command, I and my troops will cheer- 
fully perform." 



Founding a Colony. 109 

Wrongs of the Totonacs. Help implored. 

The cacique of Zempoalla replied, 

" Gracious stranger, I can not sufficiently 
commend your benevolence, and none can stand 
more in need of it. You see before you a man 
wearied out with unmerited wrongs. I and 
my people are crushed and trodden under foot 
by the most tyrannical power upon earth. We 
were once an independent and a happy people, 
but the prosperity of the Totonacs is now de- 
stroyed. The power of our nobles is gone. 
We are robbed of the produce of our fields. 
Our sons are torn from us for sacrifices, and 
our daughters for slaves. 

"The Mexicans are our conquerors and op- 
pressors. They heap these calamities upon us, 
robbing us of our substance, and despoiling us 
of our children. In the pride of aggression, 
they have marched from conquest to conquest, 
till they gather tribute from every land. And 
now, mighty warrior, we implore of thy strength 
and kindness that thou wouldst enable us to re- 
sist these tyrants, and deliver us from their ex- 
actions." 

Cortez warily replied : "I will gladly aid 
you, but let us not be rash. I will dwell with 
you a while, and whenever I shall see a suitable 
occasion to punish your enemies and to relieve 



110 Heenando Coetez. 

Applause of the natives. Erection of fortifications. 

you from their impositions, you may rely upon 
my aid to Immble their pride and power." 

The rugged army of Cortez then advanced 
through the streets of Zempoalla to the spacious 
court-yard of the temple assigned for their ac- 
commodation. As in solid column, with float- 
ing banners and bugle notes, they paraded the 
streets, headed by the cavalry of sixteen horses, 
animals the Totonacs had never seen before, 
and followed by the lumbering artillery — in- 
struments, in the eyes of the Totonacs, of super- 
natural power — -which, with thunder roar, sped 
lightning bolts, the natives gazed with admira- 
tion upon the imposing spectacle, and the air 
resounded with their applause. 

The next morning Cortez, with most of his 
army, continued his march some twelve miles 
farther to meet his fleet at Quiabislan. The 
cacique hospitably sent with him four hundred 
men of burden to convey his baggage. The 
spot which had been selected as the site of the 
new town, which was to be the capital of the 
Spanish colony, met the approbation of Cortez. 
He immediately commenced erecting huts and 
surrounding the town with fortifications of suf- 
ficient strength to resist any assault from the 
natives^ Every man in the army, the officers 



Founding a Colony. Ill 

Building the town. The lords from Montezuma. 

as well as the soldiers, engaged laboriously in 
this work. No one toiled in this enterprise 
with more patient endurance than the extraor- 
dinary commander of this extraordinary band. 
The Totonacs from Zempoalla and Quiabislan, 
encouraged by their caciques, also lent their aid 
to the enterprise with hearty good will. Thou- 
sands of hands were thus employed ; provisions 
flowed into the camp in all abundance, and the 
works proceeded with great rapidity. The vi- 
cmity was densely populated, and large num- 
bers of the listless natives, women and children, 
were attracted to the spot to witness the busy 
scene, so novel and so excitino-. 

But such proceedings could not escape the 
vigilance of the officers of Montezuma. In the 
midst of this state of things, suddenly one day 
a strange commotion was witnessed in the 
crowd, and the natives, both people and chiefs, 
gave indications of great terror. Five strangers 
appeared— tall, imposing men, with bouquets 
of flowers in their hands, and followed by obse- 
quious attendants. Haughtily these strangers 
passed through the place, looking sternly upon 
the Spaniards, without deigning to address them 
either by a word or a gesture. They were lords 
from the court of Montezuma. Their power 



112 Hernando Cortez. 

Consternation of the Totonacs. The penalty. Cortez's orders, 

was invincible and terrible. They had wit- 
nessed with their own eyes these rebellious in- 
dications of the subjects of Mexico. The chiefs 
of the Totonacs turned pale with consternation. 
All this was explained to Cortez by Marina. 

The Totonac chiefs were imperiously suni> 
moned to appear immediately before the lords 
of Montezuma. Like terrified children they 
obeyed. Soon they returned, trembling, to 
Cortez, and informed him that the Mexican 
lords were indignant at the support which they 
had afforded the Spaniards, contrary to the ex- 
press will of their emperor, and that they de- 
manded as the penalty twenty young men and 
twenty young women of the Totonacs, to be 
offered in sacrifice to their gods. 

Cortez assumed an air of indignation and of 
authority as he eagerly availed himself of this 
opportunity of promoting an open rupture be- 
tween the Totonacs and the Mexicans. He 
declared that he would never consent to any 
such abominable practices of heathenism. He 
haughtily commanded the Totonac chiefs im- 
mediately to arrest the lords of Montezuma, 
and throw them into prison. The poor chiefs 
were appalled beyond measure at the very idea 
of an act so irrevocable and so unpardonable. 



FouNDiNa A Colony. 113 

Power of Montezuma. The Mexican lords arrested. 

They had long been accustomed to consider 
Montezuma as possessing power which nothing 
on earth could resist. Montezuma swayed the 
sceptre of a Csesar, and bold indeed must he be 
who would venture to brave his wrath. 

But, on the other hand, they had already of- 
fended beyond hope of pardon by entertaining 
the intruders contrary to the positive command 
of their sovereign. Twenty of their sons and 
daughters were to bleed upon the altars of sac- 
rifice. Their only hope was now in Cortez. 
Should he abandon them, they were ruined 
hopelessly. They deemed it possible that, with 
the thunder and the lightning at his command, 
he might be able to set at defiance that mighty 
Mexican power which had hitherto been found 
invincible. 

" In this dreadful dilemma, they yielded to the 
inexorable demand of Cortez, and tremblingly 
arrested the Mexican lords. The Rubicon was 
"now passed. The Totonacs were from that 
moment the abject slaves of Cortez. Their 
only protection from the most awful doom was 
in his strong arm, and their persons, their prop- 
erty, their all, were entirely at his disposal. 

Cortez then condescended to perform a deed 
of cunning and of perfidy which has left a stain 
H 



114 Heenando Cortez. 

Perfidy of Cortez. The lords are liberated. 

upon his character which never can be washed 
away. In the night he ordered one of his peo- 
ple secretly to assist two of the Mexican lords 
in their escape. They were privately brought 
into his presence. With guileful words, which 
ought to have blistered his tongue, he declared 
that they, by their arrest, had received insult 
and outrage from the Totonacs, which he sin-^ 
cerely regretted, and would gladly have pre- 
vented. He assured them of the great pleas- 
ure which it afforded him to aid them in their 
escape. He promised to do every thing in his 
power to secure the release of the others, and 
wished them to return to the court of their 
monarch, and assure him of the friendly spirit 
of the Spaniards, of which this act was to be a 
conspicuous proof. He then sent six strong 
rowers to convey them secretly in a boat be- 
yond the reach of pursuit. The next morning, 
in the same guileful way, all the rest were lib- 
erated, and sent with a similar message to the 
court of Montezuma. 

Such was the treachery with which Cortez 
rewarded his faithful allies. With perfidy so 
detestable, he endeavored to foment civil dis- 
cord in the empire of Montezuma, pretending to 
be him.self the friend of each of the parties 



Founding a Colony. IW 

Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Embassy from Montezuma. 



whose hostility he had excited, and ready to 
espouse either side which might appear most 
available for the promotion of his ambitious 
plans. History has no language too severe to 
condemn an action so utterly abominable. It 
is treason to virtue to speak mildly of atrocious 
crime. 

Cortez named the infant city he was erecting 
The Rich City of the True Cross, Villa Rica 
de la Yera Cruz. " The two principles of av- 
arice and enthusiasm," says Robertson, "which 
prompted the Spaniards in all their enterprises 
in the New World, seem to have concurred in 
suggesting the name which Cortez bestowed on 
his infant settlement." This city was a few 
miles north of the present city of Vera Cruz. 

While Cortez was busily employed in laying 
the foundations of his colony, and gathering 
around him native aid in preparation for a march 
into the interior, another embassy from the court 
of Montezuma appeared in'^the busy streets of 
Yera Cruz. The Mexican emperor, alarmed by 
the tidings he received of the persistent bold- 
ness of the Spaniards, and of their appalling 
and supernatural power, deemed it wise to ac- 
cept the courtesy which had been offered him 
in the liberation of his imprisoned lords, and to 



116 Hernando Cortez. 

He adopts a conciliatory policy. Amazement of the Totouacs. 

adopt a conciliatory policy. The Totonacs 
were amazed by this evidence that even the 
mighty Montezuma was overawed by the pow- 
er of the Spaniards. This greatly increased 
their veneration for their European allies. 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 117 

Exultation of Ihe Totonacs, The eight maidens and their baptism. 



Chapter V. 

The Tlascalans Subjugated. ' 

^THHE Totonacs were now exceedingly exultr 
-■- ant. They were unwearied in extolling 
their allies, and in proclaiming their future in- 
dependence of their Mexican conquerors. They 
urged other neighboring provinces to join them, 
and become the vassals of the omnipotent Span- 
iards. They raised a strong army, which they 
placed under the command of Cortez to obey 
his bidding. To strengthen the bonds of alli- 
ance, the cacique of Zempoalla selected eight of 
the most beautiful maidens of his country, all 
of the first families, to be united in marriage to 
the Spanish generals. Cortez courteously but 
decisively informed the chief that, before such 
union could be consummated, these maidens 
must all renounce idolatry and be baptized. 
The Totonacs, without much apparent reluct- 
ance, yielded. Emboldened by this success, 
Cortez now made very strenuous efforts to 
induce the chief and all the tribe to abandon 



118 Hernando Coktez. 

Endeavors to induce the acceptance of Christianity. The result, 

tlieir idols and the cruel rites of lieathenism, 
and to accept in tlieir stead the symbols of 
Christianity. 

But upon this point the cacique was inflex- 
ible. " We honor your friendship, noble Cor- 
tez," he firmly replied, "and we are grateful to 
you for the generous interest you take in our 
welfare; but the gods are greater than nlan. 
Earthly benefactors are but the ministers of 
their favor. Gratitude to the gods is our first 
diity. Health, plenty, all blessings are from 
their bounty. We dread their anger more than 
the displeasure of the mightiest of men. Should 
we offend theni, inevitable destruction will over- 
whelm me and my people." 

Cortez was provoked by such obstinacy. He 
was incapable of appreciating the nobility of 
these sentiments, and of perceiving that such 
minds needed but instruction to lead them to 
reverence the true God. The sincere idolater, 
who worships according to the little knowledge 
he has, is immeasurably elevated, in dignity of 
character, above the mere nominal Christian, 
who knows the true God, and yet disregards 
him. But Cortez, inspired by fanatic zeal, 
treated these men, who deserved tender consid- 
eration, with insult and contempt. He resolved 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 121 

Fanaticism of the Spaniards. Destruction of the idols. 

recklessly to demolisli their idols, and to com- 
pel the Totonacs to receive in exchange the 
images of E-ome. 

He immediately assembled his soldiers, and 
thus addressed them : " Soldiers ! We are 
Spaniards. We inherit from our ancestors the 
love of our holy faith. Let us prostrate these 
vile images. Let us plant the cross, and call 
the heathen to the feet of that holy symbol. 
Heaven will never smile upon our enterprise if 
we countenance the atrocities of heathenism. 
For my part, I am resolved that these pagan 
idols shall be destroyed this very hour, even if 
it cost me my life." 

The fanaticism of the Spaniards was now ef- 
fectually roused. In solid column, a strong di- 
vision marched toward one of the most impos- 
ing of the Totonac temples. The alarm spread 
wildly through the thronged streets of Zempo-. 
alia. The whole population seized their arms 
to defend their gods. A scene of fearful con- 
fusion ensued. Firmly the inflexible Spaniards 
strode on. Fifty men ascended the winding 
stairs to the summit of the pyramidal temple, 
tore down the massive wooden idols, and tum- 
bled them into the streets. They then collect- 
ed the mutilated fragments, and burned them to 



122 Heenando Coetez. 

l>ismay of the Indians. Celebration of mass. The harangue. 

ashes. The Indians looked on in dismay, with 
tears and groans. 

The heathen temple was then emptied, swept, 
and garnished. The Totonac chiefs, and the 
priests clotted with the blood of their brutal 
sacrifices, now docile as children, obeyed obse- 
quiously the demands of the haughty reformer. 
He ordered these unenlightened pagan priests 
to have their heads shorn, to be dressed in the 
white robes of the Catholic priesthood, and, 
with lighted candles in their hands, they were 
constrained to assist in performing the rites of 
the papal Church. An image of the Virgin was 
installed in the shrine which had been polluted 
by all the horrid orgies of pagan abominations. 
Mass was celebrated upon the altar where hu- 
man hearts, gory and quivering, had for ages 
been offered in awful sacrifice. The prayers 
and the chants of Christianity ascended from 
the spot where idolaters had slain their victims 
and implored vengeance upon their foes. 

Cortez then himself earnestly and eloquently 
harangued the people, assuring them that hence- 
forth the Spaniards and the Totonacs were 
Christian brothers, and that under the protec- 
tion of the Holy Virgin, the mother of Christ, 
they would both certainly be blessed. 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 123 



The change. Emotions of the natives. They accept the new idols. 

Violent as were these deeds, it is undeniable 
that they ushered in a blessed change. The 
very lowest and most corrupt form of Christian- 
ity is infinitely superior to the most refined cre- 
ations of paganism. The natives gradually re- 
covered from their terror. They gazed with 
admiration upon the pageant of the mass, with 
its gorgeous accompaniments of incense, music, 
embroidered robes, and solemn processions. 
The Spanish historians who witnessed the 
scene record that many of the Indians were so 
overcome with pious emotion, in thus behold- 
ing, for the first time, the mysteries of Chris- 
tianity, that they freely wept. JSTo more resist- 
ance was made. The Totonacs, thus easily 
converted, apparently with cheerfulness ex- 
changed the bloody and hideous idols of Mex- 
ico for the more attractive and more merciful 
idols of Eome. Let not this remark be attrib- 
uted to want of candor ; for no one can deny 
that, to these uninstructed natives, it was mere- 
ly an exchange of idols. 

^ Cortez had now been in Mexico nearly three 
months. Every moment had been occupied in 
the accomplishment of objects which he deem- 
ed of fundamental importance. He was, how- 
ever, evidently somewhat embarrassed respect- 



124 Hernando Cortez. 

Cortez's embarrassment respecting his commission. The letter. 

ing the validity of his title to command. It 
was at least doubtful whether the king would 
recognize the authority of a colony established 
in so novel a manner. Cortez also well knew 
that Velasquez would apply to his sovereign for 
redress for the injuries which he had received. 
The danger was by no means small that, by the 
command of the king, Cortez would be degraded 
and punished as a usurper of power. 

Before commencing his march into the inte- 
rior, he deemed it of the utmost importance to 
take every possible precaution against this dan- 
ger. He influenced the magistrates of Vera 
Cruz to address a letter to the Spanish sover- 
eign in justification of the course which had 
been pursued, and to implore the king to ratify 
what had been done in his name, and to con- 
firm Cortez in the supreme command. Cortez 
also wrote himself a long and labored letter to 
the Emperor Charles V., full of protestations 
of loyalty and of zeal for the wealth and the re- 
nown of the Spanish court. To add weight to 
his letter, it was accompanied by as rich treas- 
ures from the New World as he had thus far 
been able to accumulate. Such was the as- 
cendency which this extraordinary man had at- 
tained oyer the minds of his_ associates, and so 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 125 

Anticipations of wealth. Presents. Embassadors sent to the king. 

confident were they in their anticipations of 
boundless wealth, that all the soldiers, without 
a murmur, at the suggestion of Cortez, relin- 
quished their part of the public treasure, that 
the whole might be sent to the king. Two of 
the chief magistrates of the colony, Portocarrero 
and Montejo, were sent in one of the two ves- 
sels which were fitted out to Spain to convey 
these letters and presents. They were directed 
not to stop at the island of Cuba, lest they 
should be detained by Velasquez. Ere they 
embarked, mass was celebrated and prayers 
were offered for a prosperous voyage. It was 
now the month of July, 1519. 
" Just after the vessels had sailed, Cortez was 
much disturbed by a dangerous conspiracy 
which broke out in the camp. Some of the 
disaffected, who had been silenced, but not rec- 
onciled, with great secresy matured a plan for 
seizing one of the brigantines and making their 
escape to Cuba. The conspirators had actually 
gone on board the vessel, and were ready to 
weigh the anchor and spread the sails, when 
one of the number repented of his treachery, 
and disclosed the plot to Cortez. 

The stern chieftain immediately went him- 
self on board the vessel. The crime was too 



126 Hernando Cortez. 

Punishment of the conspirators. Disturbing developments. 

palpable to be denied. He ordered all to be 
seized and brought on shore. Cortez resolved 
to punish with a severity which should intimi- 
date against any renewal of a similar attempt. 
The two ringleaders were immediately put to 
death. The pilot had one of his feet cut off. 
Two of the sailors received two hundred lashes. 
The rest were spared. 

; It is recorded that Cortez, as he was ratify- 
ing this sentence, gave a deep sigh, and ex- 
claimed, 

* ' How happy is he who is not able to write, 
and is thereby prevented from signing the death- 
waiTants of men !" 

But this development of disaffection disturb- 
ed Cortez exceedingly. He was about to march 
two hundred miles into the interior. It would 
be necessary to leave a garrison at Vera Cruz. 
The fleet would be lying idly at anchor in the 
harbor. A more successful attempt might be 
made during his absence ; and Velasquez, in- 
formed thus of his position, might easily send, 
from the powerful colony of Cuba, a force suffi- 
cient to take possession of Vera Cruz, and thus 
leave Cortez in the interior but a desperate ad- 
venturer, wandering in the midst of hostile na- 
tions. In this emergence, he came to the decis- 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 127 

Destruction of the fleet. Indignation of the soldie'-s. 

ion, of almost unparalleled boldness, to destroy 
the fleet ! He would thus place himself in a 
distant land, with but five hundred men, hope- 
lessly cut off from all retreat, and exposed to 
assault from exasperated nations numbering 
many millions. 

This plan was no sooner conceived than ex- 
ecuted. He assembled his principal friends 
privately, and informed them of his determina- 
tion. 

" We shall thus," said he, "gain all the sail- 
ors for soldiers, and the men, having no possi- 
bility of escape, must either conquer or die." 

While most of the soldiers were employed at 
Zempoalla, the ships were dismantled of every 
movable article, and they were then scuttled 
and sunk. In a few hours the majestic ocean 
rose and fell in silent solitude where the fleet 
had so proudly floated. One small vessel only 
was left. 

When the soldiers heard of this desperate 
deed, they were struck with consternation. 
They were apparently now forever separated 
from friends and home. In case of disaster, 
escape was impossible and destruction sure. 
Murmurs of indignation, loud and deep, began 
to rise against Cortez. He immediately gath- 



128 Hernando Cortez. 



Cortez wins the approval of his men. Preparations for the journey, 

ered his troops around him, and, by his peculiar 
tact, soothed their anger, and won them to ap- 
proval of his course. They at once saw that 
murmurs would now be of no avail ; that their 
destiny was henceforth entirely dependent upon 
their obedience to their leader. It was evident 
to all that the least insubordination, in the po- 
sition of peril in which they w^ere placed, would 
lead to inevitable ruin. Cortez closed his speech 
with the following forcible words : 

" As for me, I have chosen my part. I will 
remain here while there is one to bear me com- 
pany. If there be any so craven as to shrink 
from sharing the danger of our glorious enter- 
prise, let them go home. There is still one 
vessel left. Let them take that and return to 
Cuba. They can tell there how they have de- 
serted their commander and their comrades, and 
can wait patiently till we return, loaded witL the 
treasures of the Mexicans." 

These excitable men were roused to enthu- 
siasm by this speech. One general shout arose, 
" To Mexico ! to Mexico !" Cortez now made 
vigorous preparations for his march, uninvited 
and even forbidden, to the capital of Montezu- 
ma. All was alacrity in the camp, and the To- 
tonac allies were as zealous in their preparation^ 
as were the Spaniards. 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 129 

The departure and march to Mexico. 

On the 15tli of August, 1519, commenced 
this ever-memorable march. The force ofCor- 
tez consisted of four hundred Spaniards, fifteen 
horses, and seven pieces of artillery. The small 
remainder of his troops, some being sick or oth- 
erwise disabled, were left in garrison at Vera 
Cruz. The cacique of the Totonacs also fur- 
nished him with an army of two thousand three 
hundred men. Of these, two hundred were 
what were called ifRen of burden, trained to car- 
ry heavy loads and to perform all arduous la- 
bor. These men were invaluable in carrying 
the luggage and in dragging the heavy artillery. 
Cortez assembled his forces at Zempoalla. At 
the moment of their departure, he called all the 
Spaniards around him, and addressed them in a 
devout speech. 

"The blessed Savior," said he, "will give 
us victory. We have now no other security 
than the favor of God and our own stout hearts." 

The morning was serene and cloudless when 
the army commenced its march, which led to 
scenes of unparalleled cruelty and of blood. 
Just as the advance guard was leaving, a mes- 
senger brought the intelligence that a strange 
vessel was seen cruising off the coast near Vera 
Cruz. Cortez was alarmed, being apprehensive 
I 



130 Heenando Coetez. 

Arrival of a strange vessel. Capture of prisoners. The stratagem. 

that it was some ship belonging to a fleet sent 
against him hy Velasquez. He immediately 
set oiF with a small party of horse toward the 
shore. A boat left the vessel and landed four 
men. Cortez seized them, and learned that this 
ship was sent with two others, conveying two 
hundred and seventy soldiers. The Governor 
of Jamaica having learned of the expedition of 
Cortez, had sent this embassy to take posses- 
sion of the country, and to inform Cortez that, 
by a royal commission from the sovereign, the 
Governor of Jamaica was entitled to have au- 
thority over the whole coast. Cortez impress- 
ed the men as soldiers, and sent them to be 
added to his army. Hoping to get a few more, 
he hid, with his guard, for a whole night behind 
some sand-hills, expecting that others might 
land to look for their lost comrades. Beino; 
disappointed in this expectation, he resorted to 
a stratagem to lure others on shore. Four of 
his men were dressed in the clothes of the pris- 
oners, and sent to the coast to make signals. 
A boat was soon seen making for the shore ; 
but, as soon as three had landed, some suspicion 
excited the fears of the rest, and they pushed 
oil from the beach. The three were, however, 
instantly secured, and were immediately sent to 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 131 

The re-enforcement. They arrive at Jalapa. Naulinca 

join their companions in the ranks. Cortez 
thus obtained an important re-enforcement of 
seven Spaniards. 

Delaying no longer, the whole army was 
speedily on the march. For two days they 
moved gayly along through an enchanting coun- 
try of luxuriant foliage, waving grain, flowers, 
and perfume. They encountered no opposition. 
Indian villages were thickly scattered around, 
and scenery of surpassing magnificence and 
loveliness was continually opening before their 
eyes. On the evening of the second day they 
arrived at the beautiful town of Jalapa, which 
was filled with the rural residences of the 
wealthy natives, and whose elevated site com- 
manded a prospect in which the beautiful and 
the sublime were most lavishly blended. 

Still continuing their march through a well^ 
settled country, as they ascended the gradual 
slope of the Cordilleras, on the fourth day they 
arrived at Naulinco. This was a large and 
populous town, containing many massive tem- 
ples, whose altars were ever crimsoned with 
human gore. The adventurers were received 
here, however, with great kindness. The sight 
of these heathen temples inspired Cortez, as 
usual, with intense zeal to convert the natives 



132 Hernando Coetez. 

Erection of the cross. Ascent of the Cordilleras. 

to Christianity. Time pressed, and it was not 
safe to indulge in delay. The Indians were 
"bewildered rather than instructed by the exhor- 
tations of the Spanisji priests. They, howev- 
er, consented that Cortez should rear a large 
cross in the centre of their market-place as a 
memorial of his visit. The enthusiastic Span- 
iard devoutly hoped that the sight of the cross 
alone would excite the devotion of the natives. 

They had now ascended far up the gentle 
ascent of the Cordilleras, and were entering the 
defiles of the mountains. Here they encoun- 
tered rugged paths, and fierce storms of wind 
and sleet. A weary march of three days brought 
them to the high and extended table-land so 
characteristic of this country, seven thousand 
feet above the level of the sea. Here they found 
a fertile and flowery savanna extending before 
them for many leagues. The country was high- 
ly cultivated, and luxuriantly adorned with 
hedges, with groves, with waving fields of maize, 
and with picturesque towns and villages. God 
did indeed seem to smile upon these reckless 
adventurers. Thus far their march had been 
as a delightful holiday excursion. 

They soon arrived at Tlatlanquitepec. It 
was even more populous and improving in its 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 133 

The city of Tlatlanquitepec. Indications of idolatry. A cold reception. 

architecture than Zempoalla. The stone houses 
were spacious and comfortable. Thirteen mass- 
ive temples testified to the religious fervor of 
the people. But here they witnessed the most 
appalling indications of the horrid atrocities of 
pagan idolatry. They found, piled in order, as 
they judged, one hundred thousand skulls of 
human victims who had been offered in sacri- 
fice to their gods.* There was a Mexican gar- 
rison stationed in this place, but not sufficiently 
strong to resist the invaders. They, however, 
gave Cortez a very cold reception, and endeav- 
ored to discourage him from advancing by glow- 
ing descriptions of the wealth and power of 
the monarch whose displeasure he was incur- 
ring. These developments, however, rather in- 
cited anew the zeal of the Spaniards. Cortez, 
with commendable zeal, again made vigorous 
but unavailing efforts to induce these benighted 
pagans to renounce their cruel and bloodstain- 
ed idols, and accept the religion of Jesus. Poor- 
ly as Gortez was instructed in the doctrines and 

* " Near some temples were laid numbers of human skele- 
tons, 60 arranged that they could be counted with ease and 
certainty. I am convinced, from my own observation, that 
there were above a hundred thousand. I repeat it, I am sure 
that there were more than a hundred thousand." — Bcrnal 
Diaz, Y>. 91. 



134 Hernando Coetez. 

Cortez's mission. His commands, and their refusal to obey. 

the precepts of the Gospel, Christianity, even 
as darkly discerned by his mind, was infinitely 
superior to the sanguinary religious rites of 
these idolaters. 

" We come," said he, firmly, to the chiefs and 
the principal personages of the town, " from a 
distant country, to warn the great Montezuma 
to desist from human sacrifices, and all out- 
rages upon his own vassals or his neighbors, 
and to require from him submission to our mon- 
arch ; and I now require you, all who hear me, 
to renounce your human sacrifices, cannibal 
feasts, and other abominable practices, for such 
is the command of our Lord God, whom we 
adore, who gives us life and death, and who is 
to raise us up to heaven." 

The natives, however, clung to the debasing 
faith of their fathers. The zeal of Cortez was 
roused. He regarded the hideous idols as rep- 
resentatives of devils, whom it was right, with 
any violence, to overthrow. He was just about 
ordering an onslaught upon the temples with 
sword and hatchet, when the prudent Father 
Olmedo dissuaded him. 

" By introducing our religion thus violently," 
said this truly good man, " we shall but expose 
the sacred symbol of the cross and the image 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 135 

Advice of Father Olmedo. Arrival at Xalacingo. Friendly treatment. 

of the Blessed Virgin to insult as soon as we 
shall have departed. We must wait till we 
can instruct their dark minds, so that from the 
heart they may embrace our faith." 

And here let us record the full and the cor- 
dial admission, that the Roman Catholic Church, 
notwithstanding its corruptions, has sent out 
into the wilds of heathenism as devoted Chris- 
tians as the world has ever seen. 

After a rest in this city of five days, the 
route was again commenced. The road wound 
picturesquely along the banks of a broad and 
tranquil stream, fringed with an unbroken line 
of Indian villages. Some twenty leagues of 
travel brought them to the large town^of Xala- 
cingo. Here they met with friendly treatment. 
They were now on the frontiers of a very pow- 
erful nation, called the Tlascalans, who, by their 
fierce and warlike habits, had thus far succeed- 
ed in resisting the aggressions of the Mexicans. 
The whole nation was organized into a camp, 
and thus, though many bloody battles had been 
fought, the Tlascalans maintained their inde- 
pendence. 

Cortez was quite sanguine that he should be 
able to form an alliance with this people. He 
therefore decided to rest his army for a few days, 



136 Hernando Cortez. 

Embassadors to the Tlascalan capital. They are seized, but escape. 

while an embassy should be sent to the Tlasca- 
lan capital to solicit permission to pass through 
their country, and gently to intimate an alli- 
ance. Four Zempoallans of lofty rank were 
selected as embassadors. In accordance with 
the custom of the country, they were dressed in 
official costume, with flowing mantles, and each 
bearing arrows tipped with white feathers, the 
symbol of peace. 

But the Tlascalans had heard of the arrival 
of the Spaniards upon the coast, of their ships, 
*' armed with thunder and clad with wings," of 
their fearful war-horses, and of their weapons 
of destruction of almost supernatural power. 
They had also heard of the violence with which 
they had assailed the gods of the country. The 
principal lords had already assembled in debate 
to decide upon the course to be pursued should 
these formidable strangers approach their terri- 
tory. It was determined to oppose them with 
all the energies of artifice and of force. The 
embassadors were accordingly seized and im- 
prisoned, and preparations were made to sacri- 
fice them to their gods. They, however, for- 
tunately made their escape and returned to 
Cortez. 

The Spanish chieftain, disappointed but not 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 137 

The Spaniards determine to force a passage. The attack. 

intimidated by this result, made prompt arrange- 
ments to force liis way through the Tlascalan 
territory. Waving the sacred banner of the 
Church before his troops, he exclaimed, 

" Spaniards ! follow boldly the standard of 
the H*oly Cross. Through this we shall con- 
quer." 

"On! on!" was the enthusiastic response 
of the soldiers. "In God alone we place our 
trust." 

The march of a few miles brought them to 
an extended wall of solid masonry, built, like 
the great wall of China, to protect the territory 
of the Tlascalans from invasion. Though the 
entrance gate was so constructed that a small 
army stationed there might have made very 
powerful resistance, for some reason the Tlasca- 
lan force had been withdrawn. The army bold- 
ly pressed in, and advanced rapidly, yet using 
all caution to guard against an ambuscade. 
They had not proceeded far, however, before 
they met a large force of the Indians, who at- 
tacked them with the utmost fury, and with a 
degree of military skill and discipline which 
greatly surprised the Spaniards. Two of the 
horses were killed, and several of the Spaniards 
wounded. For a time the situation of the in- 



138 Hernando Gortez. 

The Tlascalans forced to retire. Destruction of the provisions. 

vaders was very precarious ; but Gortez soon 
brought up the artillery, and opened a destruc- 
tive fire upon the unprotected foe. The thun- 
der of the guns, which the Tlascalans had nev- 
er heard before, and the horrid carnage of the 
grape-shot sweeping through their ranks, com- 
pelled the warlike natives at last, though slow- 
ly and sullenly, to retire. There was, however, 
no confusion in their retreat. They retired in 
good order, ever presenting a bold front to their 
pursuers. Gortez estimated the number of the 
enemy engaged in this battle at six thousand. 

The retiring Tlascalans took with them or 
destroyed all the provisions which the country, 
afforded ; but, notwithstanding this, " their 
dogs," one of the historians of the expedition 
records, " which we caught when they returned 
to their habitations at night, afforded us a very 
good supper." 

It was now the end of September. The 
army of Gortez had been gradually increased by 
recruits from among the natives to three thou- 
sand. Immediately after this first battle with 
the Tlascalans, the whole army was assembled 
to offer thanks to God for the victory, and to 
implore his continued protection. The soldiers, 
with the fresh blood of the Tlascalans hardly 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 139 

The sacrament. Chivalry of the barbarians. A supply of provisions. 

washed from their hands, partook of the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper according to the 
rites of the Roman CathoHc Church. 

The army now marched in close order. The 
Totonac allies, as well as the Spaniards, were 
drilled to perfect discipline, and all were in- 
spired with intense zeal. With characteristic 
caution Cortez chose every night his place of 
halting, and with great vigilance fortified his 
encampment. There was something truly chiv- 
alrous in the magnanimity displayed by these 
barbarians. They seemed to scorn the idea of 
taking their enemies by surprise, but always 
sent them fair warning when they intended to 
make an attack. They had now the impression 
that the Spaniards had left their own country 
because it did not furnish sufficient food for 
them. They therefore sent to their camp an 
abundant supply of poultry and corn, saying, 
"Eat plentifully. We disdain to attack a foe 
enfeebled by hunger. It would be an insult to 
our gods to oifer them starved victims ; neither 
do we wish to feed on emaciated bodies." We 
have before mentioned that it was the horrid 
custom of this people to offer as sacrifices to 
their gods prisoners taken in war, and then to 
banquet in savage orgies over the remains. 



140 Hernando Cortez. 

Encounter the enemy. Confession. Release of the captive chiefs. 

As Cortez moved cautiously on, adopting ev- 
ery precaution to guard against surprise, he 
suddenly emerged from a valley upon a wide- 
spread plain. Here he again encountered the 
enemy, drawn up in battle array, in numbers 
apparently overwhelming. It was now even- 
ing. As it was understood that the Tlascalans 
never attacked by night, considering it dishon- 
orable warfare, the Spaniards pitched their tents, 
having posted sentinels to watch the foe with 
the utmost vigilance. The morning was to 
usher in a dreadful battle, with fearful odds 
against the invaders. Two chiefs who had 
been taken prisoners in the late battle stated 
that the force of the Tlascalans consisted of five 
divisions of ten thousand men each. Each di- 
vision had its own uniform and banner, and was 
under the command of its appropriate chief. It 
was a solemn hour in the Spanish camp. 
" When all this was communicated to us," says 
Diaz, "being but mortal, and, like all others, 
fearing death, we prepared for battle by con- 
fessing to our reverend fathers, who were occu- 
pied during that whole night in that holy of- 
fice." 

Cortez released his captive chiefs, and sent 
them with an amicable message to their coun- 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 141 



Tlascalanian mode of making peace. Cortez prepares for battle. 

trymen, stating that he asked only an unmo- 
lested passage through their country to Mexi- 
co, but sternly declaring, " If this proposition 
be refused, I will enter your capital as a con- 
quer or. 4 I will burn every house. I will put 
every inhabitant to the ,««word. " An answer was 
returned of the most implacable defiance. ' ' We 
will make peace," said the Tlascalans, "by de- 
vouring your bodies, and offering your hearts 
and your blood in sacrifice to our gods." 

The morning of the 5th of September dawn- 
ed cloudless and brilliant upon the two armies 
encamped upon the high table-lands of the Cor- 
dilleras. At an early hour the Spanish bugles 
roused the sleeping host. The wounded men, 
even, resumed their place in the ranks, so great 
was the peril. Cortez addressed a few inspirit- 
ing words to the troops, and placed himself at 
their head. Just as the sun was rising he 
put his army in motion. Soon they arrived in 
sisht of the Tlascalans. The interminable host 
filled a vast plain, six miles square, with their 
throngino' multitudes. The native warriors, in 
bands skillfully posted, were decorated with the 
highest appliances of barbaric pomp. As the 
experienced eye of Cortez ranged over their 
dense ranks, he estimated their numbers at 



142 Heenando Cortez. 



Courage of the enemy. 



more than one hundred thousand. Their weap- 
ons were slings, arrows, javelins, clubs, and 
rude wooden swords, sharpened with teeth of 
flint. 

The moment the Spaniards appeared, the 
Tlascalans, uttering hideous yells, and filling 
the air with all the inconceivable clamor of their 
military bands, rushed u.pon them like the on^ 
rolling surges of the ocean. The first discharge 
from the native army of stones, arrows, and 
darts was so tremendous as to darken the sky 
like a thick cloud. Notwithstanding the armor 
worn by the Spaniards was impervious to ar- 
row or javelin, many were wounded. 

But soon the cannon was unmasked, and 
opened its terrific roar. Ball and grape-shot 
swept through the dense ranks of the natives, 
mowing down, in hideous mutilation, whole pla- 
toons at a discharge. The courage displayed 
by the Tlascalans was amazing. It has never 
been surpassed. Though hardly able, with 
their feeble weapons, to injure their adversaries, 
regardless of death, they filled up the gaps 
which the cannon opened in their ranks, and all 
the day long continued the unequal fight. 

Immense multitudes of the dead now cover- 
ed the field, and many of the chiefs were slain. 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 143 

The natives vanquished. Surprise at the small losses of the Spaniards. 

Every horse was wounded ; seventy Spaniards 
were severely injured ; one was dead, and near- 
ly all were more or less bruised. But the ar- 
tillery and the musketry were still plied with 
awful carnage. The commander-in-chief of the 
native army, finding it in vain to. contend 
against these new and apparently unearthly 
weapons, at last ordered a retreat. The na- 
tives retired in as highly disciplined array as 
would have been displayed by French or Aus- 
trian troops. The victors, exhausted and bleed- 
ing, were glad to tliroAV themselves upon the 
gory grass of the battle-field for repose. The 
cold wind at night, from the mountain glaciers, 
swept the bleak plain, and the soldiers shivered 
in their houseless beds. They did not sleep, 
however, until, in a body, they had returned 
thanks to the God of peace and love for their 
glorious victory. " It truly seemed," said Cor- 
tez, devoutly, "that God fought on our side." 

It appears almost incredible that, in such a 
conflict, the Spanish army should have received 
so little injury. But Cortez made no account 
of any amount of loss on the part of his native 
alHes. The Spaniards only he thought of, and 
they were protected with the utmost care. 
Their artillery and musketry kept the natives 



144 Hernando Coetez. 

Courage of the Spaniards accounted for. The midnight foray. 

at a distance, and their helmets and coats of 
mail no native weapon could easily penetrate. 
Their danger was consequently so small that 
we can not give them credit for quite so much 
heroism as they have claimed. The enterprise, 
in its commencement, was hold in the extreme ; 
but it it easy to be fearless when experience 
proves that there is but little peril to be encoun- 
tered. They fought one hundred thousand 
men for a whole day, and lost one inan ! 

As night enveloped in its folds the blood- 
stained hosts, the untiring Cortez, having buried 
his dead, that his loss might not be perceived by 
the enemy, sallied forth with the horse and a 
hundred foot, and four hundred of the native 
allies, and with fire and sword devastated six 
villages of a hundred houses each, taking four 
hundred prisoners, including men and women. 
Before daybreak he returned from this wild fo- 
ray to the camp. 

During the night the Tlascalans had been re- 
ceiving re-enforcements, and when the first dawn 
of morning appeared, more than one hundred 
and forty-nine thousand natives, according to 
the estimate of Cortez, made a rush upon the 
camp. After a battle of four hours they were 
again compelled to retreat. "As we carried 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 145 

The Tlascalanians sue for peace. Cruel treatment of the embassadors. 

the "banner of the cross," says Cortez, "and 
fought for our faith, God, in his glorious prov- 
idence, gave us a great victory." 

Night again came. Again this indomitable 
man of iron sinews marched forth in the dark- 
ness, with his horse, one hundred Spanish in- 
fantry, and a large party of his allies, and set 
three thousand houses in flames, encountering 
no opposition, burning out only the women and 
children and the unarmed inhabitants. Cortez 
treated all the prisoners he took very kindly, 
and liberated them with presents. This hu- 
manity amazed the natives, who were accustom- 
ed to a procedure so very different. 

The Tlascalans were now much dishearten- 
ed, and were inclined to peace. But they were 
quite at a loss to know how to approach the 
terrible foe. After much deliberation, they sent 
an embassage, composed of fifty of their most 
prominent men, bearing rich presents. Cortez 
suspected them of being spies. With cruelty, 
which will ever be an ineffaceable stigma upon 
his name, he ordered them all to be arrested, 
and their hands to be cut off. Thus awfully 
mutilated, these unhappy men were sent back 
to the Tlascalan camp with the defiant mes- 
sage, 

K 



146 Hernando Cortez. 

The Tlascalans subdued. Speech of the commander-in-chief. 

*' The Tlascalans may come Iby day or by 
night ; the Spaniards are ready for them." 

Cortez himself relates this act of atrocious 
cruelty. Nothing can be said in its extenua- 
tion. There was even wo jproof^ but only sus- 
picion that they were spies. It is, indeed, not 
at all probable that, if such were the intention, 
fifty of the most prominent men of the nation 
would have been selected. It is, however, cer- 
tain, that after this all farther idea of resistance 
was abandoned. The commander-in-chief of 
the Tlascalan army, with a numerous retinue, 
entered the Spanish camp with proffers of sub- 
mission. This brave and proud chieftain, sub- 
dued by the terrors of the resistless engines of 
war worked by the Spaniards, addressed Cortez 
in the following language, which will command 
universal respect and sympathy. 

" I loved my country," said he, " and wished 
to preserve its independence. We have been 
beaten. I hope that you will use your victory 
with moderation, and not trample upon our lib- 
erties. In the name of the nation, I now ten- 
der obedience to the Spaniards. We will be 
as faithful in peace as we have been bold in 
war." 

Cortez received this submission with great 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 147 

They march to the city of Tlascala. Appearance of the city. 

secret satisfaction, for his men, worn down with 
fatigue, were beginning loudly to murmur. A 
cordial peace was soon concluded. The Tlas- 
calans were the inveterate foes of the Mexicans, 
and had*long been fighting against them. They 
yielded themselves as vassals to the King of 
Spain, and engaged to assist Cortez in all his 
enterprises. The two armies, which had re- 
cently met in such fierce and terrible encounter, 
now mingled together as friends and brothers. 
In one vast united band they marched toward 
the great gity of Tlascala, and entered the cap- 
ital in triumph. 

It was, indeed, a large and magnificent city ; 
more populous, and of more imposing architec- 
ture, Cortez asserts, than the celebrated Moor- 
ish capital, Granada, in old Spain. An im- 
mense throng flocked from the gates of the city 
to meet the troops. The roofs of the houses 
were covered with spectators. Wild music, 
from semi-barbarian voices and bands, fiUed the 
air. Plumed warriors hurried to and fro, and 
shouts of welcome seemed to rend the skies, as 
these hardy adventurers slowly defiled through 
the crowded gates and streets of the city. The 
police regulations were extraordinarily effective, 
repressing all disorder. The Spaniards were 



148 Heenando Cortez. 

Treatment of the vanquished natives. Peril of Cortez's army. 

surprised to find barbers' shops, and also baths 
both for hot and cold water. 

The submission of the Tlascalans was sin- 
cere and entire. They were convinced that the 
Spaniards were beings of a superior order whom 
it was in vain to resist. Cortez treated the 
vanquished natives with great courtesy and 
kindness. He took the Tlascalan republic un- 
der his protection, and promised to defend them 
from every foe. 

The peril of Cortez at this juncture had been 
very great. The difficulty of obtaining suffi- 
cient food for his army, while ever on the march, 
called into requisition his utmost sagacity and 
exertions. No man of ordinary character could 
have surmounted this difficulty. Fatigue and 
exposure had placed many on the sick-list, and 
there were no hospital wagons to convey them 
along. Fifty-five Spaniards had died on the 
way. Cortez himself was seriously indisposed. 
Every night one half of the army kept up a vig- 
ilant watch, while all the rest slept on their 
arms. And Diaz records that they had no salve 
to dress their wounds but what was composed 
of the fat of the Indians whom they had slain. 
Whenever the enemy was defeated, he retired 
only to reappear in increasing numbers. Under 



The Tlascalans Subjugated. 149 

Murmurs dispelled. Population of the city. 

these circumstances, it is not strange that many 
of the soldiers had thought of their homes, and 
that loud murmurs had been uttered. But this 
sudden peace dispelled all discontent. In the 
abundance and the repose of the great city of 
Tlascala, all past toil and hardship were for- 
gotten. 

Cortez, in his letter to the emperor, stated 
that so populous was Tlascala, that he presumed 
as many as thirty thousand persons appeared 
daily in the market-place of the city buying and 
selling. The population of the province he es- 
timated at five hundred thousand. 



150 Hernando Cortez. 

Prudence of Cortes. Enthusiasm of the natives. Alarm of Montezuma. 



Chapter YI. 
The March to Mexico. 

COETEZ remained in Tlascala twenty days, 
to refresh liis troops, and to cement his 
alliance with his new friends. He was all this 
time very diligent in making the most minute 
inquiries respecting the condition of the Mexi- 
can empire, and in preparing for every emer- 
gence which could arise in the continuance of 
his march. Bold as he was, his prudence equal- 
ed his boldness, and he left nothing willingly to 
the decisions of chance. The Tlascalans hated 
virulently their ancient foes the Mexicans, and 
with that fickleness of character, ever conspicu- 
ous in the uninformed multitude, became fond 
even to adulation of the Spaniards. With great 
enthusiasm they embarked in the enterprise of 
joining the expedition against Montezuma. All 
the forces of the republic were promptly raised, 
and placed under the command of Cortez. 

Montezuma was informed of all these pro- 
ceedings, and was greatly alarmed. He feared 
that a prophetic doom was about to descend 



The Maech to Mexico. 151 

The embassy to Cortez. Cortez's answer. Conversion of the natives. 

upon him, and this apprehension wilted all his 
wonted energies. Thus influenced, he sent an 
embassy, consisting of five of the most conspicu- 
ous nobles of his empire, accompanied bj a ret- 
inue of two hundred attendants, to visit the 
Spanish camp. Men of burden were laden down 
with rich presents for Cortez. The gold alone 
of the gifts was estimated at over fifty thousand 
dollars. Montezuma weakly hoped by these 
gifts to induce Cortez to arrest his steps. The 
embassadors were instructed to urge him, by 
all possible considerations, not to attempt to 
approach the Mexican capital. 

Cortez returned an answer replete with ex- 
pressions of Castilian courtesy, but declaring 
that he must obey the commands of his sov- 
ereign, which required him to visit the metrop- 
olis of the great empire. 

But, in the midst of all these cares, Cortez 
did not forget his great mission of converting 
the natives to Christianity. This subject was 
ever prominent in his mind, and immediately 
upon his entrance into the city he commenced, 
through his interpreters, urging the chiefs to 
abandon their cruel idolatry. He argued with 
them himself, and called into requisition all the 
persuasive eloquence of good Father Olmedo. 



152 Heknando Cortez. 

The five maidens. Cortez declines the gift. Presentation of the imaga 

The chiefs brought five maidens, all noble 
born, and of selected beauty. These girls were 
beautifully dressed, and each attended by a 
slave. Xicotenga, the cacique of the nation, 
presented his own daughter to Cortez, and re- 
quested him to assign the rest to his officers. 
Cortez firmly, yet courteously declined the gift, 
saying, 

" If you wish that we should intermarry with 
you, you must first renounce your idolatrous 
worship and adore our God. He will then 
bless you in this life, and after death he will re- 
ceive you to heaven to enjoy eternal happiness ; 
but if you persist in the worship of your idols, 
which are devils, you will be drawn by them to 
their infernal pit, there to burn eternally in 
flames of fire." 

He then presented to them " a beauteous im- 
age of Our Lady, with her precious Son in her 
arms," and attempted to explain to them the 
mystery of the incarnation, and the potency of 
the mediatorship of the Virgin. 

" The God of the Christians," the Tlascalans 
replied, "must be great and good. We will 
give him a place with our gods, who are also 
great and good. Our god grants us victory 
over our enemies. Our goddess preserves us 



The Ma^ch to Mexico. 153 

The compromise. Indignation on both sides. 

from inundations of the river. Should we for- 
sake their worship, the most dreadful punish- 
ment would overwhelm us." 

Cortez could admit of no such compromise ; 
and he yrged the destruction of the idols with 
so much zeal and importunity, that at last the 
Tlascalans became angry, and declared that on 
no account whatever w^ould they abandon the 
gods of their fathers. Cortez now, in his turn, 
was roused to virtuous indignation, and he re- 
solved that, happen what might, the true God 
should be honored by the swift destruction of 
these idols of the heathen. Encouraged by the 
success of his violent measures at Zempoalla, 
he was on the point of ordering the soldiers to 
make an onslaught on the gods of the Tlasca- 
lans, which would probably have so roused the 
warlike and exasperated natives as to have led 
to the entire destruction of his army in the nar- 
row streets of the thronged capital, when the 
judicious and kind-hearted Father Olmedo dis- 
suaded him from the rash enterprise. With 
true. Christian philosophy, he plead that forced 
conversion was no conversion at all ; that God's 
reign was only over willing minds and in the 
heart. " Religion," said tliis truly good man, 
"can not be propagated by the sword. Pa- 



154 Hernando Cortez. 

Father Olmedo dissuades him from his purpose. The protest. 

tient instruction must enlighten the understand- 
ing, and pious example captivate the affections, 
before men can be induced to abandon error 
and embrace the truth." It is truly refreshing 
to meet with these noble ideas of toleration 
spoken by a Spanish monk in that dark age. 
Let such a fact promote, not indifference to 
true and nndefiled religion, but a generous char- 
ity.* 

Cortez reluctantly yielded to these remon- 
strances of an ecclesiastic whose wisdom and 
virtue he was compelled to respect. The man- 
ifest pressure of circumstances also undoubted- 
ly had their influence. But this ardent reform- 
er could not yield without entering his protest. 

"We can not," he said, "I admit, change 
the heart, but we can demolish these abomin- 
able idols, clamoring for their hecatombs of hu- 
man victims, and we can introduce in their 
stead the blessed Virgin and her blessed child. 

* " When Reverend Father Olmedo, who was a wise and 
good theologian, heard this, being averse to forced conversions, 
notwithstanding it had been done in Zempoalla, he advised 
Cortez to urge it no farther at present. He also observed 
that the destruction of their idols was a fruitless violence if 
the principle was not eradicated from their minds by argu- 
ments, as the}'^ would find dther idols to continue their wor- 
ship to elsewhere." 



The Maech to Mexico. 155 

The prisons emptied of the victims. Baptism of the brides. 

Will not this be a humane change ? And, he- 
cause we can not do the whole, shall we refuse 
to do a part ?" 

Upon one point, however, Cortez was inflex- 
ible, and to this the Tlascalans, by way of com- 
promise, assented. He insisted that the pris- 
ons should be entirely emptied of victims des- 
tined for sacrifice. There were in the temples 
many poor wretches fattening for these horrid 
orgies. A promise was also exacted from the 
Tlascalans that they would hereafter desist from 
these heathen practices ; but no sooner had 
the tramp of the Spaniards ceased to echo 
through the streets of Tlascala, than the pris- 
ons were again filled with victims, and human 
blood, in new torrents, crimsoned their altars. 

One of the temples was also cleared out, and 
an altar being erected, it was converted into a 
Christian church. Here the young ladies des- 
tined as brides for the Spanish soldiers were 
baptized, their friends presenting no objections. 
The daughter of Xicotenga received the Chris- 
tian name of Louisa. Cortez took her by the 
hand, and gracefully presented her to one of his 
captains, Alvarado, telling her father that that 
officer was his brother. The cacique express- 
ed entire satisfaction at this arrangement. All 



156 Heenando Coetez. 

Ilontezuma invites Cortez to his capital. Zeal of the Tlascalans. 

were baptized and received Christian names. 
Many of the descendants of this beautiful and 
amiable Indian maiden may now be found 
among the grandees of Spain. 

Montezuma, on the return of his embassadors, 
finding that no argument could dissuade Cortez, 
and fearing by opposition to provoke the hos- 
tility of an enemy who wielded such supernat- 
ural thunders, now decided to change his policy, 
and by cordiality to endeavor to win his friend- 
ship. He accordingly sent another embassy, 
with still richer presents, inviting Cortez to his 
capital, and assuring him of a warm welcome. 
He entreated him, however, not to enter into 
any alliance with the Tlascalans, the most fierce 
and unrelenting foes of the Mexican empire. 

The time had now arrived for Cortez to re- 
sume his march. The zeal of the Tlascalans 
to accompany him was so great that, according 
to his representation, he might have taken with 
him one hundred thousand volunteers. He, 
however, considered this force too unwieldy, 
and accepted of but six thousand picked troops. 
This, liowever, was a strong re-enforcement, 
and Cortez now rode proudly at the head of a 
regular army which could bid defiance to all 
opposition. 



The Mauch to Mexico. 157 

The city of Cholula. Arrival. They decline admitting the Tlascalans. 

Eighteen miles from Tlascala was situated 
the city of Cholula, and this city was but sixty- 
four miles east of the renowned Mexican me- 
tropolis. Cholula was a city whose population 
was estimated at one hundred thousand. As 
it belonged to Mexico, the bitterest animosity 
existed between its inhabitants and those of 
Tlascala. Cortez was warned by his new al- 
lies not to enter the city, as he might depend 
upon encountering treachery there ; but the 
Spanish general considered himself now too 
strong to turn aside from any danger. 

As the Spanish army approached the city, a 
procession came out to meet them, with ban- 
ners, and bands of music, and censers smoking 
with incense. Numerous nobles and priests 
headed the procession^ They received Cortez 
and the Zempoallans with every demonstration 
of friendship, but declined admitting their in- 
veterate enemies, the Tlascalans, within their 
walls. Cortez accordingly ordered these allies 
to encamp upon the plain before the city, while 
he, with the rest of the army, marched with 
great military pomp into the metropolis, which 
was resounding with acclamations. 

He found a beautiful city, with wide, neatly- 
arranged streets and handsome dwellings. It 



158 Hernando Cortez. 

Rumors of treachery. Marina discovers a plot. 

was the sacred city of the Mexicans. Many- 
gorgeous temples lined the streets, and one of 
extraordinary grandeur was the most renowned 
sanctuary of the empire. It is alleged by some, 
and denied by others, that the Mexicans had 
invited the Spaniards into the holy city, hoping 
by the aid of the gods to eifect their entire de- 
struction. The Tlascalans, who were encamp- 
ed outside of the city, affirmed that the women 
and children of the principal inhabitants were 
leaving the city by night. They also declared 
that a large body of Mexican troops were con- 
cealed near the town. Two of the Tlascalans, 
who had entered the city in disguise, declared 
that some of the streets were barricaded, and 
that others were undermined, and but slightly 
covered over, as traps for the horses. They 
also reported that six children had recently been 
sacrificed in the chief temple, which was a cer- 
tain indication that some great military enter- 
prise was on foot. Cortez, however, did not 
place much reliance upon this testimony from 
the Tlascalans. He was well aware that they 
would be glad, in any way, to bring down de- 
struction on Cholula. 

But more reliable testimony came from the 
amiable Marina. She had won the love of one 



The March to Mexico. 159 

Cortez resents the treachery of the natives. The massacre. 

of the noble ladies of the city. This woman, 
wishing to save Marina from destruction, in- 
formed her that a plot was in progress for the 
inevitable ruin of her friends. According to 
her accofmt, deep pits were dug and concealed 
in the streets, stones carried to the tops of the 
houses and the temples, and that Mexican 
troops were secretly drawing near. The fatal 
hour was at hand, and escape impossible. 

The energy of Cortez was now roused. Qui- 
etly he drew up the Spanish and Zempoallan 
troops, armed to the teeth, in the heart of the 
city. He sent a secret order to the Tlascalans 
to approach, and, at a given signal, to fall upon 
the surprised and unarmed Cholulans, and cut 
them down without mercy. He then, upon a 
friendly pretext, sent for the magistrates of the 
city and all the principal nobles. They were 
immediately assembled, and the signal for mas- 
sacre was given. 

The poor natives, taken entirely by surprise, 
rushed in dismay this way and that, encounter- 
ing death at every corner. The Tlascalans, 
like hungry wolves, swept through the streets, 
glutting themselves with blood. It was with 
them the carnival of insatiable revenge. The 
dwellings were sacked piteously, and the city 



160 Heenando Cortez. 

Destruction of Cholula. Proclamation offering pardon. 

every where kindled into flame. Women and 
children were seized by the merciless Tlasca- 
lans to grace their triumph, and to bleed upon 
their altars of human sacrifice. For two days 
this horrid scene continued. At last, from ex- 
haustion, the carnage ceased. The city was re- 
duced to smouldering ruins, and pools of blood 
and mutilated carcases polluted the streets. 
The wail of the wretched survivors, homeless 
and friendless, rose to the ear of Heaven more 
dismal than the piercing shriek of anguish 
which is silenced by death. The argument 
with which Cortez defends this outrage is very 
laconic : 

" Had I not done this to them, they would 
have done the same to me." 

Such is war — congenial employment only for 
fiends. It is Satan's work, and can be efficient- 
ly prosecuted only by Satan's instruments. 
Six thousand Cholulans were slain in this aw- 
ful massacre. The Spaniards were now suffi- 
ciently avenged. Cortez issued a proclamation 
offering pardon to all who had escaped the mas- 
sacre, and inviting them to return to their 
smouldering homes. Slowly they returned, 
women and children, from the mountains where 
they had fled ; some, who had feigned deatli. 



The March to Mexico. 163 

Appointment of the new cacique. Public thanksgivings. 

crept from beneath the bodies of the slain, and 
others emerged from hiding-places in their dev- 
astated dwellings. The cacique of the Cholu- 
lans Iiad been killed in the general slaughter. 
Cortez appointed a brother of the late cacique 
to rule over the city, and, in apparently a sin- 
cere proclamation, informed the bereaved and 
miserable survivors that it was with the great- 
est sorrow that he had found himself compelled 
by their treachery to this terrible punishment. 
The Tlascalans, glutted with the blood of their 
ancient foes, were compelled to surrender all 
their prisoners, for Cortez would allow of no hu- 
man sacrifices. 

Cortez thought that the natives were now in 
a very suitable frame of mind for his peculiar 
kind of conversion. They were truly very pli- 
ant. JSTo resistance was offered to the Spanish 
soldiers as they tumbled the idols out of the 
temples, and reared in their stead the cross and 
the image of the Virgin. Public thanksgivings 
were then offered to God in the purified temples 
of the heathen for the victory he had vouchsafed, 
and mass was celebrated by the whole army. 

In the year 1842, Hon. Waddy Thompson 
passed over the plain where once stood the city 
of Cholula. He thus describes it : 



164 Hernando Cortez. 

Statement of Mr. Thompson. Cortez resumes his march toward Mexica 

"The great city of Cholula was situated 
about six miles from the present city of Puebla. 
It was. here the terrible slaughter was commit- 
ted which has left the deepest stain upon the 
otherwise glorious and wonderful character of 
Cortez. Not a vestige — ^literally none — not a 
brick or a stone standing upon another, remains 
of this immense city except the great pyramid, 
which still stands in gloomy and solitary gran- 
deur in the vast plain which surrounds it, and 
there it will stand forever. This pyramid is 
built of unburned bricks. Its dimensions, as 
given by Humboldt, are, base, 1440 feet ; pres- 
ent height, 177 ; area on the summit, 45,210 
square feet. A Catholic chapel now crowns 
the summit of this immense mound, the sides 
of which are covered with grass and small trees. 
As seen for miles along the road, an artificial 
mountain, standing in the solitude of a vast 
plain, it is a most imposing and beautiful ob- 
ject." 

After the delay of a fortnight, Cortez resumed 
his march toward the capital of Mexico, which 
was now distant from him but twenty leagues. 
It was now the 29th of October. The tidings 
of the horrible retribution which had fallen upon 
Cholula spread far and wide, and it accomplish- 



The March to Mexico. 165 

Terror of Montezuma. Cortez's message to the monarch. 

ed its end in preventing any farther manifesta- 
tions of hostility. City after city, appalled by 
this exhibition of the vengeance of those foes 
who wielded the thunder and the lightning of 
heaven, gnd who, with the dreadful war-horse, 
could overtake the swiftest foe, sent in the most 
humble messages of submission, with accom- 
panying presents, to propitiate the favor of the 
terrible invaders. 

Montezuma, as he was informed of the fate 
of Cholula, turned pale upon his throne, and 
trembled in every fibre. He dreaded unspeak- 
ably to have the Spaniards enter his capital, 
and yet he dared not undertake to oppose them. 
Cortez sent embassadors before him to the cap- 
ital with the following message to Montezuma : 

" The Cholulans have asserted that Monte- 
zuma instigated their treachery. I will not be- 
lieve it. Montezuma is a great and a powerful 
sovereign ; he would make war in the open 
field, and not by cowardly stratagem. The 
Spaniards, however, are ready for any warfare, 
secret or open." 

This was bold defiance. Montezuma super- 
stitiously read in it the decree of fate announc- 
ing his doom. He returned an answer solemn- 
ly declaring that he had no part in the guijt of 



166 Heknando Cortez. 

His answer. Appearance of discontent. Arrival at Ithualco. 

the Cholulans, and renewedly inviting Cortez 
to visit his citj. 

The country through vrhich the adventurers 
passed became increasingly populous, luxuriant, 
and beautiful. They were continually met by 
embassies from the different cities on or near 
their route, endeavoring to propitiate their favor 
by protestations of allegiance and gifts of gold. 
They also perceived many indications of discon- 
tent with the reign of Montezuma, which en- 
couraged Cortez greatly in his expectation of 
being able to overturn the empire, by availing 
himself of the alienation existing in its constitu- 
ent parts. Multitudes of the disaffected joined 
the army of Cortez, where they were all warm- 
ly welcomed. "Thus," says Clavigero, "the 
farther the Spaniards advanced into the coun- 
try, the more they continued to increase their 
forces ; like a rivulet which, by the accession 
of other streams, swells in its course into a large 
river." 

For several days they toiled resolutely along, 
" recommending," says Diaz, " our souls to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who had brought us through 
our past dangers," until, from the heights of 
Ithualco, they looked down over the majestic, 
the enchanting valley of Mexico. A more per- 



The Maecii to Mexico. 169 

View from the heights. Cortez resolves to continue his march. 

fectly lovely scene has rarely greeted human 
eyes. In the far distance could be discerned, 
through the transparent atmosphere, the dim 
blue outline of the mountains by which the al- 
most boujidless basin of Mexico was girdled. 
Forests and rivers, orchards and lakes, culti- 
vated fields and beautiful villages adorned the 
landscape. The magnificent city of Mexico 
was situated, in queenly splendor, upon islands 
in the bosom of a series of lakes more than a 
hundred miles in length. Innumerable towns, 
with their lofty temples, and white, picturesque 
dwellings, fringed the margin of the crystal wa- 
ters. The circumference of the valley girdled 
by the mountains was nearly two hundred miles. 
The Spaniards gazed upon the enchanting 
scene with amazement, and many of them with 
alarm. They saw indications of civilization 
and of power far beyond what they had antici- 
pated. Cortez, however, relying upon the effi- 
ciency of gunpowder, and also deeming Imnself 
invincible while the sacred banner of the cross 
waved over his army, marched boldly on. The 
love of plunder was a latent motive omnipotent 
in his soul, and he saw undreamed of wealth 
lavishly spread before him. Though Cortez 
was, at this period of his life, a stranger to the 



170 Hernando Cortez. 

Vacillation of Montezuma. Description of the valley of Mexico. 

sordid vice of avarice, he coveted intensely 
boundless wealth, to be profusely distributed in 
advancing his great plans.* 

Montezuma was continually vacillating as to 
the course to be pursued. At one hour he would 
resolve to marshal his armies, and fall, if fall 
he must, gloriously, amid the ruins of his em- 
pire. The next hour timidity would be in the 
ascendant, and a new embassy would be sent 
to Cortez, with courteous speeches and costly 

* Hon. Waddy Thompson thus describes the appearance 
of the great valley of Mexico at the present time. " The road 
passes v/ithin about twenty miles of the mountain of Poco- 
catapetl, the highest point of the territory of Mexico ; but the 
brightness of the atmosphere, and a tropical sun shining upon 
the snow with which it is always covered, makes the distance 
seem very much shorter — not, indeed, more than one or two 
miles. In descending the mountain, at about the distance of 
twenty-five miles the first glimpse is caught of the city and 
valley of Mexico. No description can convey to the reader 
any adequate idea of the effect upon one who, for the first 
time, beholds that magnificent prospect. With what feelings 
must Cortez have regarded it when he first saw it from the 
top of the mountain between the snow-covered volcanoes of 
Pococatapetl and Iztaccihuatl, a short distance to the left of 
where the road now runs ! The valley was not then, as it is 
now, for the greater part a barren waste, but was studded all 
over with the homes of men, containing more than forty cities, 
besides towns and villages without number. Never has such 
a vision burst upon the eyes of mortal man since that upon 
which the seer of old looked down from Pisgah." 



The Maech to Mexico. 171 

Offers from Montezuma. Satisfaction of Cortez. His answer. 

gifts. The unhappy monarch, in his despair, 
had gone to one of the most sacred of the sanc- 
tuaries of the empire to mourn and to pray. 
Here he passed eight days in the performance 
of aU the humiliating and penitential rites of his 
religion. But each day Cortez drew nearer, and 
the crowds accumulating around him increased. 

The spirit of Montezuma was now so crush- 
ed that he sent an embassy to Cortez offering 
him four loads of gold for himself, and one for 
each of his captains, and he also promised to 
pay a yearly tribute to the King of Spain, if 
the dreaded conqueror would turn back. This 
messenger met the Spanish army upon the 
heights of Ithualco, as they were gazing with 
admiration upon the goodly land spread out be- 
fore them. Cortez listened with much secret 
satisfaction to this messenger, as an indication 
of the weakness and the fear of the great mon- 
arch. Returning the laconic answer, "I must 
see Montezuma, and deliver to him personally 
the message of the emperor my master," he 
more eagerly pressed on his way. 

Montezuma received this response as the 
doom decreed to him by fate. " Of what avail," 
the unhappy monarch is reported to have said, 
"is resistance, when the gods have declared 



172 Heunando CopvTez. 

Arrival at Amaqucmecan. Profuse hospitality. Ayotzingo. 

tliemselves against us ? Yet I mourn most for 
the old and infirm, the women and children, too 
feeble to fight or to fly. For myself and the 
brave men around me, we must bare our breasts 
to the storm, and meet it as we may." 

The Spaniards had now arrived at the city 
of Amaquemecan. They were received by the 
principal inhabitants of the place with an os- 
tentatious display of courtesy and friendship. 
Two very large stone buildings were provided 
for their accommodation. This profuse hospi- 
tality was excited by terror. After resting 
here two days, Cortez resumed his march. 
Their path still led through smiling villages 
and fields of maize, and through gardens bloom- 
ing with gorgeous flowers, which the natives 
cultivated with religious and almost passionate 
devotion. 

At last they arrived at Ayotzingo — the Ven- 
ice of the New World — an important town, 
built on w^ooden piles in the waters of Lake 
Chalco. Gondolas of every variety of color, 
and of graceful structure, glided through the 
liquid streets. The main body of the Spanish 
army encamped outside of the city. A vast 
concourse of the natives flocked to the camp. 
Cortez became suspicious of premeditated treach- 



The March to Mexico. 173 

Lake Chalco. Cuitlahuac. Immense crowd. 

ery, and fifteen or twenty of the natives were 
heartlessly shot down, as an intimidation. The 
terrified Indians did not venture to resent this 
cruel requital of their hospitality. 

After i^maining here two days, the march 
was again resumed along the southern shores 
of Lake Chalco. Clusters of villages, embow- 
ered in luxuriant foliage, and crimson with 
flowers, fringed the lake. The waters were 
covered with the light boats of the natives, 
gliding in every direction. At last they came 
to a narrow dike or causeway, five miles long, 
and so narrow that but two or three horsemen 
could ride abreast. In the middle of this cause- 
way, which separated Lake Chalco from Lake 
Xochicalco, was built the town of Cuitlahuac, 
which Cortez described as the most beautiful he 
had yet seen. Before the mansions of the prin- 
cipal inhabitants there were lawns ornamented 
with trees and shrubbery. Temples and lofty 
towers rose in much majesty of architecture. 
Floating gardens were constructed on the lake, 
and innumerable boats, plied by the strong arms 
of the native rowers, almost covered the placid 
waters. As the Spaniards marched along this 
narrow causeway, the crowd became so immense 
that Cortez was obliged to resort to threats of 



174 Hernando Cortez. 

They enter Iztapalapan. Appearance of the city. Reception of Cortez. 

violence to force his way. The place was so 
very favorable for the natives to make an as- 
sault, that Cortez conducted the march with the 
utmost possible vigilance, and commanded the 
Indians not to come near his ranks unless they 
chose to be regarded as enemies. The ad- 
venturers were, however, received in Cuitlahuac 
with the utmost kindness, and all their wants 
were abundantly supplied. 

When they had crossed the narrow cause- 
way, and had arrived on the other side of the 
lake, they entered the city of Iztapalapan, which 
contained, according to their estimate, about 
fifteen thousand houses. The city was in the 
near vicinity of the capital. The natives, with 
refinement and taste not yet equaled by the 
money-making millions of North America, had 
allotted land in the centre of the city for a vast 
public garden, blooming with flowers of every 
variety of splendor. A large aviary was filled 
with birds of gorgeous plumage and sweet song. 
A stone reservoir, of ample dimensions, contain- 
ed water to irrigate the grounds, and it was also 
abundantly stored with fish. Many of the 
chiefs of the neighboring cities had assembled 
here to meet Cortez. They received him with 
courtesy, with hospitality, but with reserve. He 



The Margh to Mexico. 175 

The procession. The causeway. Arrival of the Emperor. 

was now but a few miles from the renowned 
metropolis of Montezuma, and the turrets of the 
lofty temples of idolatry which embellished the 
capital glittered in the sunlight before him. 

Another night passed away, and, as another 
morning downed, the Spanish army was again 
on the march. It was the 8th of JSTovember, 
1519. When they drew near the city, they 
were first met by a procession of a thousand of 
the principal inhabitants, adorned with waving 
plumes, and clad in finely-embroidered mantles. 
They announced that their renowned Emperor 
Montezuma was advancing to welcome the 
strangers. They were now upon the causeway 
which led from the main land to the island city. 
The long and narrow way was thronged with 
crowds which could not be numbered, while on 
each side the lake was darkened with boats. 
Soon the glittering train of the emperor appear- 
ed in the distance. 

Montezuma was accompanied by the highest 
possible pomp of semi-barbarian etiquette and 
splendor. He was seated in a gorgeous palan- 
quin, waving with plumes and glittering with 
gold, and was borne on the shoulders of four 
noblemen. Three officers, each holding a gold- 
en rod, walked before him. Others supported 



A 



176 Hernando Cortez. 

Aj)pearance of Montezuma. Meeting of the emperor and the marauder. 

over his head, by four posts, to shelter him 
from the sun, a canopy of beautiful workman- 
ship, richly embellished with green feathers, and 
gold, and precious gems. The monarch wore 
upon lais head a golden crown, surmounted by 
a rich head-dress of plumes. A mantle, richly 
embroidered with the most costly ornaments, 
was folded gracefully upon his shoulders. Bus- 
kins, fringed with gold, fitted closely to his legs, 
and the soles of his shoes were of gold. He 
was tall, well formed, and a peculiarly handsome 
man. 

As the monarch drew near, Cortez dismount- 
ed, and advanced on foot to meet him. At the 
same time Montezuma alighted from his palan- 
quin, and, leaning upon the arms of two of the 
highest members of his court, with great dig- 
nity approached his dreaded guest. His at- 
tendants in the mean time spread before their 
monarch rich carpets, that his sacred feet might 
not come in contact with the ground. An ex- 
pression of anxiety and of deep melancholy 
overspread the countenance of the sovereign. 

The Mexican emperor and the Spanish ma- 
rauder met in the interchange of all Mexican 
and Castilian courtesies. After the exchange 
of a few words, the whole blended cortege march- 




M 



The Maech to Mexico. 179 

Cortez conducted to his quarters. His accommodations. 

ed througli the immense crowd, which opened 
before them, and entered the imperial citj. 
"Who," exclaims Diaz, "could count the num- 
ber of men, women, and children which throng- 
ed the streets, the canals, and terraces on the 
tops of the houses on that day ? The whole of 
what I saw on this occasion is so strongly im- 
printed on my memory that it appears to me as 
if it had happened only yesterday. Glory to 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us courage to 
venture upon such dangers, and brought us 
safely through them." 

Montezuma himself conducted Cortez to the 
quarters which he had prepared for his recep- 
tion in the heart of the metropolis. With re- 
finement of politeness which would have done 
honor to the court of Louis XIV., he said, on 
retiring, 

"You are now, with your brothers, in your 
own house. Eefresh yourselves after your fa- 
tigue, and be happy until I return." 

The spot assigned to the Spaniards was an 
immense palace, or, rather, range of mansions, 
in the very centre of the metropolis, erected by 
the father of Montezuma. The buildings in- 
closed an immense court-yard. The whole w^as 
surrounded by a strong stone wall, surmounted 



180 Hernando Cortez. 

Size and comfort of the mansion. Vigilance of Cortei. 

witli towers for defense and ornament. Cortez 
could not have constructed for himself a more 
admirable citadel for the accomplishment of his 
ambitious and violent purposes. The apart- 
ment assigned to the Spanish chieftain was tap- 
estried with the finest embroidered cotton. The 
rooms and courts were so large as to afford 
ample accommodations for the whole Spanish 
army. 

" This edifice was so large," writes one of the 
historians of that day, " that both the Spaniards 
and their allies, who, together with the women 
and the servants whom they brought with them, 
exceeded seven thousand in number, were lodged 
in it. Every where there was the greatest 
cleanliness and neatness. Almost all the cham- 
bers had beds of mats, of rushes, and of palm, 
according to the custom of the people, and oth- 
er mats, in a round form, for pillows. They 
had coverlets of fine cotton, and chairs made of 
single pieces of wood. Some of the chambers 
were, also carpeted with mats, and the walls 
were hung with tapestry beautifully colored." 

Cortez, with vigilance which never slept, im- 
mediately fortified his quarters, so as to guard 
against any possible surprise. Artillery was 
planted to sweep every avenue. Sentinels 



The Maech to Mexico. 181 

Presents to Cortez. The conference. The tradition. 

were posted at important points, with orders to 
observe the same diligence by night and by day 
as if they were in the midst of hostile armies. 
A large division of the troops was always on 
guard, prepared for every possible emergency. 

In the evening, Montezuma returned, with 
g-reat pomp, to visit his terrible guests, and to 
inquire if they were provided with every thing 
which could promote their comfort. He brought 
with him presents of great value for Cortez and 
his officers, and also for each one of the privates 
in the Spanish camp. A long conference en- 
sued, during which Montezuma betrayed his 
apprehension that the Spaniards were the con- 
querors indicated by tradition and prophecy as 
decreed to overthrow the Mexican power. Cor- 
tez artfully endeavored to frame his reply so as 
to encourage this illusion. He expatiated at 
great length upon the wealth and the resistless 
power of the emperor whom he served. " My 
master wishes," said he, "to alter certain laws 
and customs in this kingdom, and particularly 
to present to you a religion far superior to the 
bloody creed of Mexico." He then, with great 
earnestness, unfolded to the respectful monarch 
the principal doctrines of Christianity — the one 
living and true God — the advent of the Savior, 



182 Heenando Cortez. 

Montezuma urged to accept the Christian faith. 

his atonement, and salvation through faith in 
him — ^the rites of baptism and of the Lord's 
Supper — -the eternal rewards of the righteous, 
and the unending woes of the wicked. To 
these remarks Cortez added an indignant re- 
monstrance against the abomination of human 
sacrifices, and of eating the flesh of the wretch- 
ed victims. By way of application to this ser- 
mon, which was truthful in its main sentiments, 
and unquestionably sincere, this most singular 
of missionaries called out the artillery. We 
would not speak lightly of sacred things m 
stating the fact that Cortez considered gun- 
powder as one of the most important of the 
means of grace. He judged that the thunder 
of his cannon, reverberating through the streets 
of the astounded capital, would exert a salutary 
influence upon the minds of the natives, and 
produce that pliancy of spirit, tliat child-like hu- 
mility, so essential both to voluntary and in- 
voluntary conversion. The most important 
truth and the most revolting falsehood here be- 
wilderingly meet and blend. 

The sun had now gone down, and the short 
twilight was fading away into the darkness of 
the night, when, at a given signal, every can- 
non was discharged. The awful roar rolled 



The Maech to Mexico. 183 

The argument. Achievements of the Spaniards. 

through the streets of the metropolis, and froze 
the hearts of the people with terror. Were 
these strange beings, they inquired among them- 
selves, who thus wielded the heaviest thunders 
of heaven, gods or demons ? Volley after vol- 
ley, in appalling peals, burst from the city, and 
resounded over the silent lake. Dense volumes 
of suffocating smoke, scarcely moved by the 
tranquil air, settled down upon the streets. Si- 
lence ensued. The voice of Cortez had been 
heard in tones never to be forgotten. The stars 
came out in the serene sky, and a brilliant 
tropical night enveloped in- its folds the fearless 
Spaniard and the trembling Mexican. 

It was the night of the 8th of November. 
But seven months had elapsed since the Span- 
iards landed in the country. The whole Span- 
ish force, exclusive of the natives whom they 
had induced to join them, consisted of but four 
hundred and fifty men. They were now two 
hundred miles from the coast, in the very heart 
of an empire numbering many millions, and by 
sagacity, courage, and cruelty, they had suc- 
ceeded in bringing both monarch and people 
into almost entire submission to their sway. 
The genius of romance can narrate few tales 
more marvelous. 



184 Hernando Cortez. 

The ride through Tenochtitlan. Visit to the market-place. 



Chapter VIL 
The Metropolis Invaded. 

THE next morning, Cortez, with a showy 
retinue of horsemen, prancing through 
streets upon which hoof had never before trod- 
den, called upon the emperor. The streets 
were lined, and the roofs of the houses crowded 
with multitudes gazing upon the amazing spec- 
tacle. The Spanish chieftain was kindly re- 
ceived by the emperor, and three days were ap- 
pointed to introduce him to all the objects of 
interest in the capital. Tenochtitlan was the 
native name by which the imperial city was then 
known. 

They first visited the great public square or 
market-place. An immense concourse was here 
assembled, engaged in peaceful traffic. Three 
judges sat in state at the end of the square, 
to settle all difficulties. A numerous body of po- 
lice, ever moving through the crowd, prevented 
all riot or confusion. Though there were many 
other minor market-places scattered through 
the city, this was the principal one. 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 185 

The pyramidal temple. View from the summit. 

Cortez then expressed the wish that he might 
be conducted to the great pyramidal temple, 
which reared its lofty structure from the heart 
of the city. The summit of the pyramid was 
an extended plain, where several hundred priests 
could officiate in sacrifice. The corners of the 
area were ornamented with towers. One hund- 
red and fourteen steps led to the summit of the 
temple. Several large altars stood here, be- 
smeared with the blood of human sacrifices, and 
there was also a hideous image of a dragon pol- 
luted with gore. 

From this towering eminence the whole ad- 
jacent country lay spread out before the eye 
of Gortez in surpassing loveliness. Gardens, 
groves, villages, waving fields of grain, and the 
wide expanse of the placid lakes, covered with 
boats gliding rapidly over the mirrored waters, 
presented a scene of beauty which excited the 
enthusiasm of Cortez to the highest pitch. They 
then entered the sanctuaries of the temple, where 
human hearts were smoking, and almost throb- 
bing, upon the altars before the revolting im- 
ages of their gods. On the summit of the tem- 
ple there was an enormous drum or gong, which 
was struck when the miserable victim was 
shrieking beneath the knife of sacrifice. Its 



186 Hernando Cortez. 

The gong. Indignation of Cortez. The chapel.. 

doleful tones, it was said, floating over the still 
waters of the lake, could be heard at the dis- 
tance of many miles. 

From these sickening scenes Cortez turned 
away in disgust, and exclaimed indignantly to 
Montezuma, 

" How can you, wise and powerful as you 
are, put trust in such representatives of the 
devil? Why do you allow your people to be 
butchered before these abominable idols ? Let 
me place here the cross, and the image of the 
blessed Virgin and of her Son, and the influ- 
ence of these detestable idols will soon vanish." 

Montezuma, shocked by words which he 
deemed so blasphemous, and dreading the swift 
vengeance of the gods, hurried his irreverent 
guest away. 

"Go," said he, "go hence, I entreat you, 
while I remain to appease, if possible, the wrath 
of the gods whom you have so dreadfully pro- 
voked." 

But these scenes aroused anew the religious 
zeal of Cortez and his companions. As they 
returned to their lodgings, they immediately 
converted one of the halls of their residence into 
a Christian chapel. Here the rites of the Ro- 
man Catholic Church .were introduced, and the 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 187 

General appearance of the city. 

whole army of Cortez, with soldierly devotion, 
attended mass every day. Good Father Olme- 
do, with perhaps a cloude-d intellect, but with 
that recognition of the universal brotherhood of 
man which sincere piety ever confers, prayed 
fervently Ifor God's blessing upon his frail chil- 
dren of every name and nation. 

The Spaniards estimated the population of 
the city at about five hundred thousand. The 
streets were very regularly laid out at right an- 
gles. Many of them were wide, and lined with 
shade-trees. The houses of the common peo- 
ple were small but comfortable cottages, built 
of reeds or of bricks baked in the sun. The 
dwellings of the nobles and of the more wealthy 
inhabitants were strongly-built mansions of 
stone, very extensive on the ground floor, though 
generally but one story high. They were in- 
closed in gardens blooming with flowers. Fount- 
ains of cool water, conveyed through earthen 
pipes, played in the court-yards. The police 
regulations were unsurpassed by those of any 
city in Europe. A thousand persons were con- 
tinually employed in sweeping and watering 
the streets. So clean were the wxll-cement- 
ed pavements kept, that " a man could walk 
through the streets," says one of the Spanish 



188 Heenando Cortez. 

Apprehension from the natives. The Tlascalans anxious for war. 

historians, " with as little danger of soiling his 
feet as his hands." 

Day after day was passed in the interchange 
of visits, and in the careful examination by 
Cortez of the strength and the resources of the 
city. He had now been a week in the capital, 
and the question naturally arose, What is next 
to be done ? He was, indeed, perplexed to de? 
cide this question. Montezuma treated him 
with such extraordinary hospitality, supplying 
all his wants, and leaving him at perfect liberty, 
that it was difficult for one, who laid any claim 
whatever to a conscience, to find occasion to 
pick a quarrel. To remain inactive, merely en- 
joying the luxury of a most hospitable enter- 
tainment, was not only accomplishing nothing, 
but was also enervating the army. It was also 
to be apprehended that the Mexicans would 
gradually regain their courage as they counted 
the small number of the invaders, and fall upon 
them with resistless power. 

The Tlascalans, who had rioted in blood at 
Gholula, seemed anxious for a renewal of that 
scene of awful butchery in the streets of Mex- 
ico. They assured Cortez that he had every 
thing to fear from the treachery of Montezuma ; 
that he had lured them into the city but to in- 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 189 

The trap. Situation of the city- 

close them in a trap; that the drawbridges of 
the causeways need but be removed, and escape 
for the Spaniards would be impossible. They 
assured him that the Mexican priests had coun- 
seled Monj;ezuma, in the name of the gods, to 
admit the strangers into the capital that he 
might cut them off at a blow. It was obvious, 
even to the meanest soldier, that all this might 
be true, and that they were in reality in a trap 
from which it would be exceedingly difficult to 
extricate themselves, should the Mexicans mani- 
fest any resolute hostility. 

On the east the island city had no connectiou 
with the main land, and could only be approach- 
ed over the broad Avaters of the lake by canoes. 
On the west the city was entered by an artifi- 
cial causeway, built of earth and stone, a mile 
and a half in length, and but thirty feet in 
breadth. A similar causeway on the northwest, 
three miles long, connected the city with the 
main land. There was another causeway on 
the south, six miles long. There were many 
openings along these causeways, through which 
the waters of the lake flowed unimpeded. These 
openings were bridged over by means of tim- 
ber. The destruction of these bridges, which 
might be accomplished at any hour, would ren- 



190 



Heenando Cortez. 



Cortez determines to seize Montezuma. 

der an escape for the Spaniards almost impos- 
sible. 







^ucAzmilco C^ 



'?Nt.vNyRSJt,^>a,^^v,H. 



:■;,. ^,'ii!::','0!f^^^$^0^t^'^^^^' 



CITY OF MEXICO. 



In this dilemma, the bold Spaniard adopted 
the audacious yet characteristic plan of seizing 
Montezuma, who was regarded with almost re- 
ligious adoration bj his subjects, and holding 
him as a hostage. The following occurrence 
furnished Cortez with a plausible pretext to 
pick a quarrel. 

We have before mentioned that the Totonacs, 



The Metropolis Invaded. 191 

The pretext. Ensa^emcnt at Vera Cruz. Cortez demands atonement. 

wishing to escape from the subjection of the 
Mexicans, had acknowledged themselves vas- 
sals of the King of Spain. When the officers 
of Montezuma attempted, as usual, to collect the 
taxes, th^ Totonacs refused payment. Force 
was resorted to, and a conflict arose. The col- 
ony at Yera Cruz immediatelj sent some sol- 
diers to aid their allies, headed by Escalente, 
the commander of the Spanish garrison. In 
the engagement which ensued, Escalente and 
seven of his men were mortally wounded, one 
horse was killed, and one Spaniard taken cap- 
tive, who soon, however, died of his wounds. 
Still the Spaniards, with their Totonac allies, 
were victorious, and repelled the Mexicans with 
much slaughter. The vanquished party cut 
off the head of their unfortunate prisoner, and 
carried it in triumph to several cities, to show 
that their foes were not invulnerable. 

With alacrity Cortez availed himself of this 
event. He immediately repaired to the palace 
of Montezuma, and, with bitter reproaches, ac- 
cused him of treacherously ordering an assault 
upon the Spaniards who had been left at Vera 
Cruz. Sternly the pitiless Spaniard demanded 
reparation for the loss, and atonement for the 
insult. Montezuma, confounded at this unex- 



192 Hernando Cortez. 

Montezuma declares his innocence. 

pected accusation, earnestly declared tliat the 
order liad not been issued by liim, but that the 
distant officer had acted on his own responsibil- 
ity, without consulting the sovereign. Ungen- 
erously he added that, in proof of his innocence, 
he would immediately command the offending 
officer, Qualpopoca, and his accomplices, to be 
brought prisoners to Mexico, and to be deliver- 
ed to Cortez for any punishment which the 
Spaniards might decree. 

Cortez now feigned a relenting mood, and de- 
clared that he could not himself doubt the word 
of the emperor, but that something more was 
requisite to appease the rage of his followers. 
" Nothing," said he, " can satisfy them of your 
sincerity and of your honorable intentions, un- 
less you will leave your palace, and take up 
your abode in the Spanish quarters. This will 
pacify my men, and they will honor you there 
as becomes a great monarch." 

When Marina interpreted this strange pro- 
posal, Montezuma was for a moment so struck 
with amazement as to be almost bereft of speech. 
His cheek was flushed with shame and rage, 
and then the hectic glow passed away into 
deadly paleness. His ancient spirit was for a 
moment revived, and he exclaimed, indignantly, 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 193 

Montezuma called upon to surrender himself a prisoner. 

"When did ever a monarch suffer himself 
to Ibe tamely led to a prison? Even were I 
willing to debase myself in so vile a manner, 
would not my people immediately arm them- 
selves to ^et me free ?" 

One of the impetuous attendants of Gortez, 
as the altercation continued, exclaimed, grasp- 
ing his sword, 

" Why waste time in vain ? Let us either 
seize him instantly or stab him to the heart." 

Montezuma, though he did not understand 
his words, observed the threatening voice and 
the fierce gesture, and, turning to the amiable 
interpretress, Marina, inquired what he said. 

" Sire," she replied, with her characteristic 
mildness and tact, "as your subject, I desire 
your happiness ; but as the confidante of those 
men, I know their secrets, and am acquainted 
with their character. If you yield to their 
wishes, you will be treated with all the honor 
due to your royal person ; but if you persist in 
your refusal, your life will be in danger." 

Montezuma, reading in these events, as he 
supposed, but the decrees of fate, now yielded. 
He called his officers, and informed them of his 
decision. Though they were plunged into utter 
consternation by the intelligence, they did not 



194 Hernando Cortez. 

Montezuma conveyed to the Spanish quarters. The body-guard. 

venture to question his will. The imperial pa- 
lanquin was brought, and the humiliated em- 
peror was conveyed, followed loy a mourning 
crowd, to the Spanish quarters. Montezuma 
endeavored to appease them, and to prevent any 
act of violence, loj assuring the people that it 
was his own pleasure to go and reside with his 
friends. He was now so thoroughly convinced 
of the resistless power of the Spaniards, and 
that he was swept along by the decrees of fate, 
that he dreaded any movement of resistance on 
the part of his people.* 

He was magnificently imprisoned. His own 
servants were permitted to attend him, and he 
continued to administer the government as if 
he had been in his own palace. All the forms 
of courtly etiquette were scrupulously observed 
in approaching his person. Ostensibly to confer 
upon him greater honor, a body-guard of stern 
Spanish veterans was appointed for his protec- 
tion. This body-guard, with all external dem- 
onstrations of obsequiousness, watched him by 
night and by day, rendering escape impossible. 

* Bernal Diaz says, " It having been decided that we should 
seize the person of the king, we passed the whole of the pre- 
ceding night in praying to our Lord that he would be pleased 
to guide us, so that what we were going to do should re- 
dound to his holy service." 



The Metropolis Invaded. 195 

Qualpopoca arrested. Condemned to be burned alive. 

This violence, however, was but the begin- 
ning of the humiliation and anguish imposed 
upon the unhappy monarch. The governor, 
Qualpopoca, who had ventured to resist the 
Spaniards, was brought a captive to the capital, 
with his son and fifteen of the principal ofl&cers 
who had served under him. They were imme- 
diately surrendered to Cortez, that he might de- 
termine their crime and their punishment. 
Qualpopoca was put to the torture. He avow- 
ed, in his intolerable agony, that he had only 
obeyed the orders of his sovereign. Cortez, 
who wished to impress the Mexicans with the 
idea that it was the greatest of all conceivable 
crimes to cause the death of a Spaniard, de- 
termined to inflict upon them a punishment 
which should appal every beholder. They were 
all doomed to be burned alive in the great mar- 
ket-place of the city. To allow no time for 
any resistance to be organized, they were imme- 
diately led out for execution. In the royal ar- 
senals there was an immense amount of arrows, 
spears, javelins, and other wooden martial weap- 
ons, which had been collected for the defense 
of the city. These the soldiers gathered, thus 
disarming the population, and heaped them up 
in an immense funeral pile. 



196 Hernando Cortez. 

Atrocious insult to Montezuma, Execution of the victims. 

While these atrocities were in preparation, 
Cortez entered the presence of his captive, Mon- 
tezuma, and sternly accused him of being an 
accomplice in the death of the Spaniards. He 
then pitilessly ordered the soldiers who accom- 
panied him to bind upon the hands and the feet 
of the monarch the iron manacles of a felon. 
It was one of the most cruel insults which could 
have been inflicted upon fallen majesty. Mon- 
tezuma was speechless with horror, and his at- 
tendants, who regarded the person of their sov- 
ereign with religious veneration, wailed and 
wept. The shackles being adjusted, Cortez 
turned abruptly upon his heel, leaving the mon- 
arch in the endurance of this ignominious pun- 
ishment, and went out to attend to the execu- 
tion of the victims, who were already bound to 
the stake. 

The cruel fires were then kindled. The 
flames crackled, and rose in fierce, devouring 
billows around the sufierers. The stern sol- 
diery stood, with musketry and artillery loaded 
and primed, ready to repel any attempts at res- 
cue. Thousands of Mexicans, with no time for 
consideration, gazed with awe upon the appal- 
ling spectacle ; and the Indian chieftains, with- 
out a struggle or an audible groan, were burned 



The Meteo'polis Invaded. 197 

Cortez the emperor. The Spanish commission. 

to ashes. The dreadful execution being termi- 
nated, and the blood of the Spaniards being 
thus avenged by the degradation of the sover- 
eign and the death of his officers, Cortez return- 
ed to Montezuma, and ordered the fetters to be 
struck from his limbs. 

Step after step of violence succeeded, until 
Montezuma was humbled to the dust. The 
fearful rigor with which Cortez had punished 
even the slightest attempt to resist the Span- 
iards overawed the nation. Cortez was now 
virtually the Emperor of Mexico. The general 
laws and customs of the nation remained un- 
changed ; but Cortez issued his commands 
through Montezuma, and the mandates of the 
imprisoned sovereign were submissively obey- 
ed. With great skill, the Spanish adventurer 
availed himself of these new powers. He sent 
a Spanish commission, by the authority and 
under the protection of Montezuma, to explore 
the empire — to ascertain its strength and its 
weakness, its wealth and its resources. These 
officers went to nearly all the provinces, and, by 
their arrogant display of power, endeavored to 
intimidate the natives, and to prepare them for 
entire subjection to Spain. 

Mexican officers, whose fidelity Cortez sus- 



198 IIeenando Coktez. 

Contributions exacted. Discontent of the soldiers. 

pected, were degraded, and tlieir places supplied 
by others whose influence he had secured. A 
general contribution of gold was exacted through- 
out the whole Mexican territories for the bene- 
fit of the conquerors. 

A large sum was thus collected. One fifth 
of this was laid aside for his majesty, the King 
of Spain. Another fifth was claimed by Cor- 
tez. The remaining portion was so greatly ab- 
sorbed to defray the innumerable expenses of 
the expedition, that only about one hundred 
crowns fell to the lot of each soldier. This ex- 
cited discontent so deep and loud that Cortez 
was compelled to attempt to pacify his men by 
a public address. 

" He called us together," says Diaz, " and 
in a long set speech, gave us a great many hon- 
eyed words, which he had an extraordinary fa- 
cility of doing, wondering how we could be so 
solicitous about a little paltry gold when the 
whole country would soon be ours, with all its 
rich mines, wherewith there was enough to 
make us great lords and princes, and I know 
not what." 

Cortez was cautious as well as bold. To 
prepare for a retreat in case of necessity, should 
the Mexicans seize their arms and break down 



The Metropolis Invaded. 199 

Building of the brigantines. 

their bridges, he wished, without exciting the 
suspicions of the natives, to build some vessels 
which would command the lake. He accom- 
plished this with his usual address. In con- 
versation with Montezuma, he gave the mon- 
arch such glowing accounts of floating palaces, 
which would glide rapidly over the water with- 
out oars, as to excite the intense curiosity of 
his captive. Montezuma expressed a strong 
desire to see these wonderful fabrics. Cortez, 
under the pretext of gratifying this desire, very 
obligliigiy consented to build two brigantines. 
The resources of the empire were immediately 
placed at the disposal of Cortez. A multitude 
of men were sent to the forest to cut down ship- 
timber and draw it to the lake. Several hund- 
red tnen of burden were dispatched to Vera 
Cruz to transport naval stores from that place 
to Mexico. Aided by so many strong arms, 
the Spanish carpenters soon succeeded in con- 
structing two vessels, which amused the mon- 
arch and his people, and which afforded the 
Spaniards an invaluable resource in the hour 
of danger. 

But the insolent bearing of the Spaniards had 
now become to many quite unendurable. Ca- 
camatzin, the chief of the powerful city of Tez- 



200 Heenando Cortez. 

Indignation of Cacamatzin. His arrest and imprisonment 

cuco, at the farther extremity of the lake, was 
a nephew of Montezuma. He was a bold man, 
and his indignation, in view of the pusillanimity 
of his uncle, at last overleaped his prudence. 
He began to assemble an army to make war 
upon the Spaniards. The Mexicans began to 
rally around their new leader. The indications 
were alarming to Cortez, and even Montezuma 
became apprehensive that he might lose his 
crown, for it was reported that Cacamatzin, re- 
garding his uncle as degraded and a captive, 
intended to seize the reins of empire. Under 
these circumstances, Cortez and Montezuma 
acted in perfect harmony against their common 
foe. After several unsuccessful stratagems to 
get possession of the person of the bold chief- 
tain, Montezuma sent some of his nobles, who 
secretly seized him, and brought him a prison- 
er to the capital, where he was thrust into prison. 
A partisan of Cortez was sent to take the place 
of Cacamatzin as governor of the province of 
Tezcuco. Thus this danger was averted. 

Cortez still felt much solicitude concerning 
the judgment of the King of Spain respecting 
his bold assumption of authority. He well 
knew that Yelasquez, the governor of Cuba, 
whose dominion he had so recklessly renounced, 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 201 

Acknowledgment of vassalage. Indignation of the nobles. 

would report the proceedings to the court at 
Madrid, sustained by all the influence hedould 
command. To conciliate his sovereign, and to 
bribe him to indulgence, he extorted from the 
weeping, spirit-crushed sovereign of Mexico an 
acknowledgment of vassalage to the King of 
Spain. This humiliating deed was invested 
with much imposing pomp. All the nobles and 
lords were assembled in a large hall in the Span- 
ish quarters. The poor monarch wept bitterly, 
and his voice often broke with emotion as he 
tremblingly said, 

" I speak as the gods direct. Our prophets 
have told us that a new race is to come to sup- 
plant our own. The hour has arrived. The 
sceptre passes from my bands by the decrees 
of fate which no one can resist. I now surren- 
der to the King of the East my power and alle- 
giance, and promise to pay to him an annual 
tribute." 

A general outburst of amazement and indig- 
nation from the nobles followed this address. 
Cortez, apprehensive that he might have pro- 
ceeded a little too far, endeavored to appease 
the rising agitation by the assurance that his 
master had no intention to deprive Montezuma 
of his regal power, or to make any innovations 



202 Hernando Cortez. 

Cortez determines to overthrow the system of idolatry. Opposition. 

upon the manners and the laws of the Mexicans. 
The act of submission and homage was, how- 
ever, executed with all the formalities which 
Cortez saw fit to prescribe. The nobles retired, 
exasperated to the highest degree, and burning 
with desires for vengeance. 

Encouraged by these wonderful successes, 
and by the tame submission of the monarch, 
Cortez resolved upon tiie entire overthrow, by 
violence if necessary, of the whole system of 
idolatry, and to introduce Catholic Christianity 
in its stead. He had often, with the most im- 
portunate zeal, urged Montezuma to renounce 
his false gods and to embrace the Christian 
faith. But superstition was too firmly enthroned 
in the heart of the Mexican monarch to be easi- 
ly supplanted. To every thing but this the 
monarch was ready to yield; but every prop- 
osition to renounce his gods he rejected with 
horror. Cortez at length firmly ordered his sol- 
diers to march to the temples and sweep them 
clean of every vestige of paganism. This roused 
the priests. They seized their arms, and the 
alarm was spread rapidly through the streets 
of the city. Vast multitudes, grasping such 
weapons as they could get, assembled around 
the temples, resolved to brave every peril in de- 



The Meteopolis Invaded. 203 

Indications of trouble. Hardships endured. Alarming intelligence. 

fense of their religion. Matters assumed an as- 
pect so threatening, that, for the first time, 
Cortez found it necessary to draw back. He 
contented himself with simply ejecting the gods 
from one of the shrines, and in erecting in their 
stead an image of the Virgin. 

There were now many indications of ap- 
proaching trouble. The natives were greatly 
provoked, and it was evident that they were 
watching for a favorable opportunity to rise 
against their invaders. Cortez practiced the 
most sleepless vigilance. Diaz speaks thus of 
the hardships he and his comrades endured : 

" During the nine months that we remained 
in Mexico, every man, without any distinction 
between officers and soldiers, slept on his arms, 
in his quilted jacket and gorget. They lay on 
mats or straw spread on the floor, and each was 
obliged to hold himself as alert as if he had 
been on guard. This became so habitual to 
me, that even now, in my advanced age, I al- 
ways sleep in my clothes, and never in any bed." 

Just in this crisis alarming intelligence was 
received from the commander of the garrison at 
Vera Cruz. One of the ships of the delegation 
sent to Spain, of which we have previously 
spoken, had, contrary to the orders of Cortez, 



204 Heenando Cortez. 

An armament sent after Cortez. Surrender of Vera Cruz demanded 

stopped at Cuba. In this way the indignant 
governor, Velasquez, learned that Cortez had re- 
nounced all connection with him, and had set 
up an independent colony. His anger was 
roused to the utmost, and he resolved upon 
summary vengeance. It so happened that Ve- 
lasquez had just received from his sovereign the 
appointment of governor for life, and was au- 
thorized to prosecute discoveries in Mexico with 
very extensive and exclusive privileges and 
powers. 

He immediately fitted out an armament con- 
sisting of nineteen ships, with eighty horsemen, 
fourteen hundred soldiers, and twenty pieces of 
cannon. This was, in that day, a formidable 
force. The commandant, Narvaez, was ordered 
to seize Cortez and his principal officers, and 
send them in chains to Cuba. He was then, 
in the name of Velasquez, to prosecute the dis- 
covery and the conquest of the country. 

After a prosperous voyage, the fleet cast an- 
chor in the Bay of St. Juan de Ulua, and the 
soldiers were landed. Narvaez then sent a sum- 
mons to the governor of Vera Cruz to surrender. 
Sandoval, the commandant, however, being zeal- 
ously attached to Cortez, seized the envoy and 
his attendants, and sent them in chains to the 



The Metkopolis Invaded. 205 



The envoy sent to Cortez. Montezuma elated. Preparations for war. 

capital, with intelligence of the impending peril. 
Cortez, with his wonted sagacity, received them, 
as friends, ordered their chains to be struck off, 
condemned the severity of Sandoval, and load- 
ed them with caresses and presents. He thus 
won their confidence, and drew from them all 
the particulars of the force, and the intentions 
of the expedition. Cortez had great cause for 
alarm when he learned that Narvaez was in- 
structed to espouse the cause of Montezuma ; 
to assure the Mexican monarch that the vio- 
lence which he had suffered was unauthorized 
by the King of Spain, and that he was ready 
to assist Montezuma and his subjects in repel- 
ling the invaders from the capital. From peril 
so imminent no ordinary man could have extri- 
cated himself. Narvaez was already on the 
march, and the natives, enraged against Cortez, 
were in great numbers joining the standard of 
the new-comers. Already emissaries from the 
camp of Narvaez had reached the capital, and 
had communicated to IMontezuma, through the 
nobles, intelligence that Narvaez was marching 
to his relief. Montezuma was overjoyed, and his 
nobles were elated with hope, as they secretly 
collected arms and marshaled their forces for 
battle. 



206 Hernando Cortez. 

Terms of accommodation. Cortez marches on Narvaez. The storm. 

Cortez immediately dispatched Father Olme- 
do to meet Narvaez to propose terms of accom- 
modation. He was fully aware that no such 
terms as he proposed could be acceded to ; but 
Olmedo and his attendants were enjoined, as 
the main but secret object of their mission, to 
do every thing they could, by presents, caress- 
es, promises, and glowing descriptions of the 
greatness of Cortez, his power, and the glory 
opening before him, to induce the officers and 
soldiers of Narvaez to abandon his standard, 
and range themselves under the banner of 
Cortez. 

At the same time, Cortez, leaving one hund' 
red and fifty men, under Alvarado, to guard the 
fortified camp in the metropolis, set out by forced 
marches, with the rest of his force, to fall unex- 
pectedly upon Narvaez. His strength did not 
exceed two hundred and fifty men. In a great 
emergency like this, the natives could not be 
trusted. As Cortez drew near his foe, he found 
that Narvaez was encamped upon a great plain 
in the vicinity of Zempoalla. A terrible tem- 
pest arose. Black clouds darkened the sky, 
and the rain fell in floods. The soldiers of 
Narvaez, drenched through and through by the 
unceasing torrents, demanded to be led to the 



The Metropolis Invaded. 207 

Narvaez's army seeks shelter. The harangue and the attack. 

shelter of the houses in Zempoalla. Thej 
deemed it impossible that any foe could ap- 
proach in such a storm ; but the storm, in all 
its pitiless fury, was the very re-enforcement 
which Cortez and his men desired. Black mid- 
night came, and the careering tempest swept 
the deluged streets of Zempoalla, driving even 
the sentinels to seek shelter. 

Cortez gathered his little band around him, 
and roused them, by a vigorous harangue, for 
an immediate attack. The odds were fearful. 
Cortez had but two hundred and fifty men. 
Narvaez had fifteen hundred, with nineteen 
pieces of artillery and eighty horsemen. Giv- 
ing the soldiers for their countersign the inspir- 
ing words, "The Holy Spirit," they rushed 
through the darkness and the raging storm 
upon the unsuspecting foe. They first direct- 
ed their energies for the capture of the artillery. 
The party who made this attack was headed by 
Pizarro, "an active lad," says Diaz, "whose 
name, however, was at that time as little known 
as that of Peru." The guns were seized, after 
a short and not a very sanguinary struggle. 
They then, without a moment's delay, turned 
upon the horsemen. But the sleeping foe was 
now effectually aroused. A short scene of con- 



208 Hernando Cortez. 

Narvaez made prisoner. The surrender. Artfulness of Cortez. 

sternation, clamor, horror, and blood ensued. 
The companions of Cortez fought with the en- 
ergies of despair. To them, defeat was certain 
death. The soldiers of Narvaez were bewil- 
dered. Many of them, even before the battle, 
were half disposed to abandon Narvaez and 
join the standard of Cortez, of whose renown 
they had heard such glowing accounts. Taken 
by a midnight surprise, they fought manfully 
for a time. But at length, in the hot and tu- 
multuary fight, a spear pierced the cheek of 
Narvaez, and tore out one of his eyes. He was 
struck down and made a prisoner. This led 
to an immediate surrender. The genius of 
Cortez had most signally triumphed. Though 
many were wounded in this conflict, but two 
men on the side of Cortez were killed, and fif- 
teen of the party of Narvaez. 

The artful conqueror loaded the vanquished 
with favors, and soon succeeded in winning 
nearly all of them to engage in his service. 
With enthusiasm these new recruits, thus sin- 
gularly gained, rallied around him, eager to 
march in the paths of glory to which such a 
leader could guide them. 

This achievement was hardly accomplished 
ere a new peril menaced the victorious Span- 



The Metropolis Invaded. 209 

The insurrection in the metropolis. Disaffection of the inhabitants. 

iard. An express arrived from the Mexican 
metropolis with the intelligence that the Mex- 
icans had risen in arms ; that they had attack- 
ed the Spaniards in their quarters, and had kill- 
ed several, and had wounded more ; that they 
had also seized the two brigantines, destroyed 
the magazine of provisions, and that the whole 
garrison was in imminent danger of destruc- 
tion. 

Immediately collecting his whole force, now 
greatly augmented by the accession of the van- 
quished troops of Narvaez, with their cavalry 
and artillery, Cortez hastened back from Zem- 
poalla to the rescue of his beleaguered camp. 
His army now, with his strangely acquired re- 
enforcement, amounted to over a thousand in- 
fantry and a hundred cavalry, besides several 
thousands of the natives, whom he recruited 
from his allies, the Totonacs. 

The danger was so imminent that his troops 
were urged to the utmost possible rapidity of 
march. At Tlascala, two thousand of those 
fierce warriors joined him ; but as he advanced 
into the temtory of Montezuma, he met every 
where the evidences of strong disaffection to 
his cause. The nobles avoided his camp. The 
inhabitants of cities and villages retired at }iis 



210 Hernando Coetez. 

They arrive at the causeway. Cause of the insurrection. 

approach. No food was brought to him. The 
natives made no attempt to oppose a force so 
resistless, but they left before him a path of si- 
lence and solitude. 

When the Spaniards arrived at the causeway 
which led to the city, they found, to their sur- 
prise, that the Mexicans had not destroyed the 
bridges, but throughout the whole length of 
this narrow passage no person was to be seen, 
No one welcomed or opposed. Fiercely those 
stern men strode on, over the causeway and 
through the now deserted streets, till they en- 
tered into the encampment of their comrades. 

The insurrection had been suddenly excited 
by an atrocious massacre on the part of Alva- 
rado. This leader, a brave soldier, but desti- 
tute either of tact or judgment, suspected, or pre- 
tended to suspect, that the Mexican nobles were 
conspiring to attack him. One of their religious 
festivals was at hand, when all the principal no- 
bles of the empire were to be assembled in the 
performance of the rites of their religion, in the 
court-yard of the great temple. Suddenly Al- 
varado came upon them, when they were thus 
unarmed and unsuspicious, and, cutting them 
off from every avenue of escape, with musketry, 
artillery, and the keen sabres of his horsemen, 



The Metropolis Invaded. 211 

Displeasure of Cortez. His insolent manner. 

mercilessly hewed them down. Nearly six 
hundred of the flower of the Mexican nobility 
were massacred. Though Cortez was very in- 
dignant with his lieutenant when he heard this 
story from his lips, and exclaimed, "Your con- 
duct has been that of a madman," he was still 
enraged with the Mexicans for venturing to at- 
tack his garrison, and declared that they should 
feel the weight of Spanish vengeance. 

In his displeasure, he refused to call upon 
Montezuma. Elated by the success with which 
he had thus far triumphed over all obstacles, 
and deeming the forces he now had under his 
command sufficient to sweep, like chaff before 
the whirlwind, any armies which the natives 
could raise, he gave free utterance to expres- 
sions of contempt for both prince and people. 
There had been a tacit truce between the two 
parties for a few days, and had Cortez disavow- 
ed the conduct of his subaltern, and pursued 
conciliatory measures, it is possible that the na- 
tives "might again have been appeased. The 
insolent tone he assumed, and his loud menace 
of vengeance, aroused the natives anew, and 
they grasped their arms with a degree of de- 
tennination and ferocity never manifested be- 
fore. 



212 Heenando Cortez. 

Diaz's record. Motives for the attack. 

Bernal Diaz in the following terms records 
this event: "Cortez asked Alvarado for what 
reason he fell upon the natives while they were 
dancing and holding a festival in honor of their 
gods. To this Alvarado replied that it was in 
order to be beforehand with them, having had 
intelligence of their hostile intentions toward 
him from two of their own nobility and a priest, 
Cortez then asked of him if it was true that 
they had requested of him permission to hold 
their festival. The other replied that it was 
so, and that it was in order to take them by 
surprise, and to punish and terrify them, so as 
to prevent their making war upon the Span- 
iards, that he had determined to fall on them 
by anticipation. At hearing this avowal, Cor- 
tez was highly enraged. He censured the 
conduct of Alvarado in the strongest terms, and 
in this temper left him. 

" Some say that it was avarice which tempt- 
ed Alvarado to make this attack, in order to 
pillage the Indians of the golden ornaments 
which they wore at their festival. I never 
heard any just reason for the assertion; nor 
do I believe any such thing, although it is so 
represented by Bartholome de las Casas. For 
my part, I am convinced that his intention in 



The Metropolis Invaded. 213 



The massacre intended to prevent insurrection. 



falling on them at that time was in order to 
strike terror into them, and prevent their insur- 
rection, according to the saying that the first 
attack is half the battle." 



214 Hernando Coetez. 

Augmented forces of Cortez. The reconnaissance 



Chapter VIII. 
Battle of the Dismal Night. 

THE force which Cortez now had under his 
command, if we take into consideration the 
efficiency of European discipline and of Euro- 
pean weapons of warfare, was truly formidable. 
In the stone buildings which protected and en- 
circled his encampment, he could marshal, in 
battle array, twelve hundred Spaniards and 
eight thousand native allies ; but they were 
nearly destitute of provisions, and the natives 
were rapidly assembling from all quarters in 
countless numbers. Cortez sent four hundred 
men out into the streets to reconnoitre. They 
had hardly emerged from the walls of their for- 
tress before they were assailed with shouts of 
vengeance, and a storm of arrows and javelins 
fell upon them. Phrenzied multitudes throng- 
ed the streets and the house-tops, and from the 
roofs and the summits of the temples, stones 
and all similar missiles were poured down upon 
the heads of the Spaniards. With great diffi- 
culty this strong detachment fought their way 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 215 



Success of the Mexicans. The conflict continu ed. 

back to their fortified quarters, having lost 
twenty-three in killed, and a large number be- 
ing wounded. 

This success greatly emboldened tlie Mexi- 
cans, and in locust legions they pressed upon 
the Spanish quarters, rending the air with their 
unearthly shouts, and darkening the sky with 
their missiles. The artillery was immediately 
brought to bear upon them, and every volley 
opened immense gaps in their ranks; but the 
places of the dead were instantly occupied by 
others, and there seemed to be no end to their 
numbers. Never did mortal men display more 
bravery than these exasperated Mexicans ex- 
hibited, struggling for their homes and their 
rights. Twice they came very near forcing an 
entrance over the walls into the Spanish quar- 
ters. Had they succeeded, in a hand to hand 
fight numbers must have triumphed, and the 
Spaniards must have been inevitably destroy- 
ed ; but the batteries of the Spaniards mowed 
down the assailants like grass before the scythe, 
and the Mexicans were driven from the walls. 
All the day long the conflict was continued, and 
late into the night. The ground was covered 
with the dead when darkness stopped the car- 
nage. 



216 Hernando Coetez. 

Troops of Narvaez begin to murmur. The sally. 

The soldiers of Narvaez, unaccustomed to 
such scenes, and appalled by the fury and the 
number of their enemies, began to murmur 
loudly. They had been promised the spoils 
of an empire which they were assured was al- 
ready conquered ; instead of this, they found 
themselves in the utmost peril, exposed to a 
conflict with a vigorous and exasperated enemy, 
surrounding them with numbers which could 
not be counted. Bitterly they execrated their 
own folly in allowing themselves to be thus de- 
luded ; but their murmurs could now be of no 
avail. The only hope for the Spaniards was 
in united and indomitable courage. 

The energies of Cortez increased with the 
difficulties which surrounded him. During the 
night he selected a strong force of picked men 
to make a vigorous sally in the morning. To 
nerve them to higher daring, he resolved to 
head the perilous enterprise himself He avail- 
ed himself of all his knowledge of Indian war- 
fare, and of ail the advantages which European 
military art could furnish. In the early dawn, 
these troops, in solid column, rushed from the 
gates of their fortress ; but the foe, greatly 
augmented by the fresh troops which had been 
pouring in during the night, were ready to re- 



Battle of the Dismal NiaHT. 217 

Cortez obliged to retreat. The conflagration. 

ceive liim. Both parties fought with ferocity 
which has never been surpassed. Cortez, to 
his inexpressible chagrin, found himself com- 
pelled to retire before the natives, who, in num- 
bers perfectly amazing, were crowding upon 
him. 

Most of the streets were traversed by canals. 
The bridges were broken down, and the Span- 
iards, thus arrested in their progress and crowd- 
ed together, were overwhelmed with stones and 
arrows from the house-tops. Cortez set fire to 
the houses every where along his line of march. 
Though the walls of many of these buildings 
were of stone, the flames ran eagerly through 
the dry and combustible interior, and leaped 
from roof to roof. A wide and wasting confla- 
gration soon swept horribly through the doomed 
city, adding to the misery of the bloody strife. 
All the day long the battle raged. The streets 
were strewn with the bodies of the dead, and 
crimsoned with gore. The natives cheerfully 
sacrificed a hundred of their own lives to take 
the life of one of their foes. The Spaniards 
were, however, at length driven back behind 
their walls, leaving twelve of their number 
dead in the streets, and having sixty severely 
wounded. 



218 Heenando Cortez. 

The desperate situation. The appeal to Montezuma. 

Another night darkened over the bloodstain- 
ed and smouldering city. The Spaniards, ex- 
hausted by the interminable conflict, still stood 
fiercely behind their ramparts. The natives, 
in continually increasing numbers, surrounded 
them, filling the night air with shrieks of defi- 
ance and rage. Cortez had displayed person- 
ally the most extraordinary heroism during the 
protracted strife. His situation now seemed 
desperate. Though many thousands of the 
Mexicans had been slaughtered during the day, 
recruits flocked in so rapidly that their numbers 
remained undiminished. Cortez had received 
a severe wound in his hand which caused him 
intense anguish. His soldiers could hardly 
stand from their exhaustion. Many had been 
slain, and nearly all were wounded. The mad- 
dened roar of countless thousands of the fiercest 
warriors surging around their bulwarks almost 
deafened the ear. Every moment it was ap- 
prehended that the walls would be scaled, and 
the inundation pour in resistlessly upon them. 

In this extremity Cortez decided to appeal 
to his captive Montezuma, and try the effect of 
his interposition to soothe or overawe his sub- 
jects. Assuming the tone of humanity, he af- 
fected to deplore the awful carnage which had 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 219 

He is induced to interpose. The dawn of the morning. 

taken place. He affirmed that the city must 
inevitably be destroyed entirely, and the inhab- 
itants generally slaughtered, unless they could 
be induced to lay down their arms. Monte- 
zuma, from one of the towers of the Spanish 
fortress, had watched, with a throbbing heart 
and flooded eyes, the progress of the fight as 
the flames swept through the streets, and de- 
struction, like a scythe, niowed down his sub- 
jects. The amiable, beloved, perplexed sover- 
eign was thus induced, though with much hes- 
itation, to interpose. He was adored by his 
people ; but he believed that the Spaniards 
were enthroned by the voice of destiny, and 
that resistance would but involve the nation in 
a more bloody ruin. 

Another morning dawned upon the combat- 
ants. In its earliest light the battle was again 
renewed with increasing fury. No pen can de- 
scribe the tumult of this wild war. The yell of 
countless thousands of assailants, the clang of 
their trumpets, gongs, and drums, the clash of 
arms, the rattle of musketry, and the roar of ar- 
tillery, presented a scene which had never be- 
fore found a parallel in the New World. 

Suddenly all the tumult was hushed as the 
venerated emperor, dressed in his imperial robes, 



220 Heenando Coetez. 

Attention of tlie natives. Address of Montezuma. He is wounded. 

appeared upon the walls, and waved his hand 
to command the attention of his subjects. At 
the sight of their beloved sovereign silence al- 
most instantaneously prevailed, all bowed their 
heads in reverence, and many prostrated them- 
selves upon the gTOund. Montezuma earnest- 
ly entreated them to cease from the conflict, as- 
suring them that the Spaniards would retire 
from the city if the Mexicans would lay down 
their arms. 

"The war will soon be over," a Mexican 
shouted from the crowd, "for we have all sworn 
that not a Spaniard shall leave the city alive." 

As Montezuma continued his urgency, plead- 
ing for the detested Spaniards, the natives for 
a few moments longer continued to listen pa- 
tiently. But gTadually a sullen murmur, like 
a rising breeze, began to spread through the 
ranks. Reproaches and threats succeeded. In- 
dignation now overtopped all barriers, and a 
shower of stones and aiTows suddenly fell upon 
the unhappy monarch. Cortez had taken the 
precaution to send a body-guard upon the wall 
with Montezuma, with bucklers for his protec- 
tion ; but so sudden and unexpected was the 
assault, that two arrows pierced his body, and 
a stone, striking him on the temple, felled him 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 223 

He refuses nourishment. His death. Raging of the battle. 

senseless to the ground before they could raise 
their shields. This was the last drop in the 
cup of bitterness which Montezuma was doom- 
ed to drain. The wounded monarch was con- 
veyed to his apartment, crushed in spirit, and 
utterly broken-hearted. Finally, resolved no 
longer to live, he tore the bandages from his 
wounds, and refused all nourishment. Silent, 
and brooding over his terrible calamities, he 
lingered, the picture of dejection and woe, for a 
few days, until he died. 

In the mean time the battle was resumed 
with all its fury. Throughout the day it raged 
with the most intense ferocity. The Mexicans 
took possession of a high tower which com- 
manded the Spanish quarters. It was neces- 
sary to dislodge them at any sacrifice. A de- 
tachment of chosen men was three times re- 
pulsed in its desperate assault. Cortez, aware 
that the safety of the army depended upon the 
result, ordered a buckler to be bound to his arm, 
as he could not grasp it with his wounded hand, 
and placed himself at the head of the attacking 
column. Animated by his voice and example, 
the Spaniards forced their way up the steps of 
the temple, driving the Mexicans before them. 
Having reached the spacious platform on the 



224 Hernando Cortez. 

The two Mexican nobles. Escape of Cortez. Night and its scenes. 

summit, a terrible strife ensued. Two young 
Mexican nobles resolved to effect the destruc- 
tion of Cortez by the sacrifice of their own lives. 
They seized him, dragged him to the battle- 
ments, and threw themselves over while cling- 
ing to his person, that they might thus dash 
him also upon the pavement beneath. But 
Cortez, by his wonderful strength and agility, 
shook them off, and thus broke from their grasp, 
though they both perished. The victorious 
Spaniards then set fire to the tower. Other 
sorties were made during the day, and the 
wretched city was as the crater of a volcano of 
flame and blood. The energies of both parties 
seemed to redouble with despair. 

At last another night spread its veil over the 
infuriated combatants. In its darkest watches, 
the indomitable Cortez made a sortie at the 
head of a strong band, and set three hundred 
buildings in flames. The lurid fire, crackling 
to the skies, illumined the tranquil lake, and 
gleamed portentously upon the most distant vil- 
lages in the vast mountain-girdled valley. The 
tumult of the midnight assault, the shrieks of 
the women and children, and the groans of the 
wounded and the dying, blended dismally with 
the roar of the conflagration. 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 225 

Endeavors to intimidate the natives. Their heroism. Defiance. 

Cortez now summoned the Mexican chiefs to 
a parley. He stood upon the wall. The beau- 
tiful Marina, as interpreter, stood at his side. 
The native chiefs were upon the ground before 
him. The inflexible Spanish commander en- 
deavored to intimidate his determined foes by 
threats. 

" If you do not immediately submit," said 
he, " I will lay the whole city in ashes, and ev- 
ery man, woman, and child shall be put to the 
sword."' 

They answered defiantly, 

" The bridges are broken down, and you can 
not escape. You have better weapons of war 
than we, but we have greater numbers. If we 
offer a thousand lives for one, we will continue 
the battle till you are all destroyed." 

Saying this, they gave a signal, and a storm 
of arrows and javelins pierced the air, and fell 
into the beleaguered fortress. Notwithstand- 
ing the bold tone assumed by Cortez, the Span 
iards were in great dismay. It was manifest 
to all that their destruction was certain unless 
they could cut their way through the enemy, 
and escape from the city. The extraordinary 
energies of this iron fanatic still remained un*- 
shaken. Calmly he reflected upon his position, 
P 



226 Hernando Coetez. 

Cortez resolves to leave the city. The moving towers. The retreat. 

examined his resources, and formed his plans. 
The Mexicans had barricaded the streets, and 
had broken down the causeways, to prevent, if 
possible, the escape of their foes. But there 
was no longer any alternative for Cortez. De- 
struction was certain unless he could effect his 
escape. He decided to make the desperate at- 
tempt at midnight. He immediately construct- 
ed moving towers, to be pushed through the 
streets on wheels, at the head of his columns, 
under the protection of which his soldiers could 
force their way, and make every bullet accom- 
plish its mission. A platform on the top could 
be let down, affording a bridge to the roofs of 
the houses, thus placing the Spaniards on a 
level with their assailants. The sides of the 
towers w^ere amply strong to repel darts and ar- 
rows. Thus protected from all harm, the sharp- 
shooters could sweep the streets and the house- 
tops. 

At midnight the retreat was commenced in 
three divisions. Sandoval led the van, Alvara- 
do the rear. Cortez took command of the cen- 
tre, where he placed the distinguished prisoners, 
among whom were a son and daughter of Mon- 
tezuma, and several of the high nobles. He 
also carried with his division the artillery, the 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 227 



" ^^^ °""^t. Arrival at the canal . 

baggage, and a portable bridge, ingeniously con- 
structed of timber, to be laid over the breaches 
in the causeway. In profound silence the army 
issued from their quarters, and marched firmly 
along through the smouldering and gory streets. 

For a little time they advanced unmolested ; 
but the Mexicans were watching their move- 
ments, and were silently making dispositions 
for a tremendous onset. Suddenly the shout 
of an innumerable multitude and the clash of 
arms rose fearfully in the dark night air, and 
from every quarter the natives came rushing 
on, and stones, javelins, darts, and arrows rat- 
tled like hail-stones upon helmet and buckler. 
Every inch of the way was now contested. The 
progress of the Spaniards, though slow. Was re- 
sistless, the cannon and the musketry sweeping 
down all obstacles. 

At last they arrived at one of the numerous 
canals which every where intersected the city. 
The bridge was destroyed, and the deep waters 
flowing from the lake cut ofi* all retreat. The 
wooden bridge, prepared for such an emergence, 
was thrown across the chasm. The head of 
the Spanish column fought its way over suc- 
cessfully ; but, unfortunately, the weight of the 
artillery and of the dense throng wedged the 



228 Hernando Cortez. 

Imminent peril. Filling the breach. Slow advance. 

timbers so fast into the stones that all their ef- 
forts could not again remove them. Their peril 
was growing every moment more imminent, as 
the roused natives were thronging to ever j point 
where the retiring foe could be assailed. They 
were thus compelled to leave the bridge behind 
them. 

Advancing precipitately, the Spaniards soon 
arrived at a second breach. Here they found 
themselves hemmed in on all sides, and they 
had no means of bridging the gap ; but, plant- 
ino; their cannon so as to hold the natives at 
bay, every available hand was employed in 
filling the chasm with stones and timbers torn 
from the demolished and smouldering dwellings. 
The labor was difficult and perilous, for they 
were incessantly assailed by the most pelting 
storm of the missiles of destruction. 

For two days this terrific conflict raged. 
Seven breaches in the canals they were com- 
pelled thus to bridge with stones and timbers 
torn from the adjacent streets ; but the Span- 
iards still slowly advanced, triumphing with 
difficulty over every obstacle which the natives 
could interpose. Though they thus sternly 
fought their way along, trampling beneath them 
the mutilated bodies of the dying and of the 



Battle of the Dismal NiaHT. 229 

The storm. The causeway. Muhitude of the enemy. 

dead, at the close of the second day they found 
their foes more numerous and their situation 
more desperate than ever. 

As the gloom of night again descended, a 
deeper, heavier gloom rested upon all in the heart 
of the Spanish camp. A wailing storm arose 
of wind and rain, and nature mourned and wept 
as if in sympathy with the woes of man. Avail-o 
ing themselves of the darkness and of the up- 
roar of the midnight tempest, though weary, 
faint, and bleeding, they urged their steps along 
the Avar-scathed streets, for a time strangely 
encountering no opposition. But when they 
reached the long causeway, nearly two miles in 
length and but thirty feet wide, by which alone 
they could reach the land, a yell of exultation 
suddenly rose from the black and storm-lashed 
waters of the lake, loud as the heaviest thun- 
ders. The whole lake, on both sides of the 
causeway, seemed alive with the boats of the 
natives, and the Spaniards were immediately 
assailed by the swarming multitudes, who, in 
the fierce and maddened strife, set all danger 
at defiance. 

War never exhibited a more demoniac aspect. 
The natives opposed their advance, crowded 
their rear, and clambered up the sides of the 



230 Heenando Cortez. 

Fury of the attack. Noche triste. Separation of the Spaniards. 

causeway, attacking the foe on each flank with 
indescribable fuiy. Fresh warriors instantly 
rushed into the place where their comrades had 
fallen, and those in the rear of the tumultuous 
mass crowded their companions in the front 
ranks resistlessly upon the compact enemy. 

There were three chasms in the causeway 
broken by the Mexicans which the Spaniards 
were compelled to bridge in the darkness and the 
storm, and while assailed by an innumerable 
and almost an invisible foe. Imagination can 
not compass the horrors of that night. Noche 
triste^ dismal night, is the name by which it 
has ever since been distinguished. In the aw- 
ful confusion, military skill and discipline were 
of but little avail. The Spaniards could with 
difficulty distinguish friend from foe, and ere 
long they were nearly all quite swept away by 
the torrent rushing so resistlessly upon them. 

Gortez succeeded in keeping about a hundred 
men around him, and, using the bodies of the 
dead to aid him in bridging two chasms, he at 
length reached the main land. The horrid 
clamor still rose from the darkness of the cause- 
way as his companions, left behind, were strug- 
gling in desperation with the multitudes who 
inclosed them. Cortez heroically, with every 












I 




Battle of the Dismal Night. 233 



March to the rescue. Destruction of a part of the army, 

man in his little band still able to figlit, march- 
ed back to their rescue. A few succeeded in 
breaking through the enemy, and joined him. 
Multitudes were struck down or hurled into the 
lake ; but dreadful was the anguish of Cortez 
as he heard, piercing through the clamor, the 
cries for help of his companions w^ho were seized 
by the natives as captives, and who were being- 
borne away to be offered in sacrifice to their 
gods. The few who escaped, exhausted and 
bleeding, clung together for the remainder of 
the night near the village of Tacuba, where the 
causeway reached the main land. 

When the first gray of the lurid morning 
dawned, the whole lengih of the causeway was 
seen covered with the bodies of the slain. The 
chasms were clogged up with fragments of ar- 
tillery, baggage-wagons, dead horses, and the 
corpses of Spaniards and natives. The feat- 
ures of the dead were distorted by all the hate- 
ful passions of the strife. A few only had es- 
caped. Nearly all the horses, all the cannon, 
all the plundered treasure, and all the baggage- 
wagons, were either sunk in the lake, or were 
floating in fragments upon its surface. The 
storm had passed away, and the placid waters 
were blackened with the war- canoes of the na- 



234 Hernando Cortez. 

Sorrow of Cortez. They flee to a temple. 

tives. Not even a musket remained to the 
Spaniards. Bernal Diaz records that in this 
bloody night eight hundred and seventy of the 
Spaniards perished. More than four thousand 
of their allies were also slain. 

As Cortez gazed upon the feeble band of 
mangled and bleeding soldiers which now alone 
remained to him, even his stern heart was 
moved, and he bowed his head and wept bit- 
terly. We can not regret that some drops of 
retributive woe were wrung from the heart of 
that guilty conqueror. He had overwhelmed 
a benighted nation with misery. Under the 
divine government, such a crime can not go un- 
punished, and the penalty must descend either 
in this life or in that which is to come. 

But this was no time to indulge in grief. It 
was necessary immediately to find some shelter 
for the wearied troops. The Mexicans were 
preparing to renew the attack, and the inhabi- 
tants of Tacuba v/ere assembling in arms. At 
a little distance, on a rising ground, Cortez dis- 
covered a large stone temple. He immediately 
took possession of it, and here found not only 
temporary shelter, but, fortunately, provisions 
for his almost famished troops. Here, for a 
day, the Spaniards beat off the foe who inces- 
santly assailed them. 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 235 

Condition of ths party. March over the mountains. 

"And God only knows," says Cortez, "the 
toil and fatigue with which it was accomplish- 
ed ; for of twenty-four horses that remained to 
us, there was not one that could move briskly, 
nor a horseman able to raise his arm, nor a 
foot-soldier unhurt who could make any effort." 

They were now on the western side of the 
lake. It was necessary to pass around the 
northern shore of this vast expanse of water, as 
the country was there thinly populated, and 
they would be consequently less liable to at- 
tack. The road led a distance of nearly a hund- 
red miles over mountains and through marshes 
to the eastern shore. From there, a march of 
more than sixty-four miles w^as necessary be- 
fore they could reach the territory of Tlascala, 
which was the first point where they could hope 
for any relief. 

Under the guidance of a Tlascalan soldier, the 
despairing band commenced its march. They 
advanced the first day and night but nine miles, 
fighting incessantly all the way. For six days, 
with hardly any respite, they continued their 
retreat. Their only food they gathered as they 
hurried along, of berries, roots, and green corn. 
They were continually assailed by the indefati- 
gable foe ; but with their few remaining horses, 



236 Hernando Cortez. 

Value of the horses. Courage of Cortez. Shouts of defiance. 

their steel swords, and the energies which Eu- 
ropean civilization confers, they beat off their 
assailants and continued their flight. As the 
horses were needed to beat off the swarming foe, 
the sick and wounded were compelled to hob- 
ble along, as they could, on crutches. "Next 
to Grod," says Cortez, " our greatest security 
was in our horses." One horse was killed. The 
Spaniards eagerly devoured his flesh, "not leav- 
ing," says Cortez, "even his skin, or any other 
part of him, so great were our necessities." 

Cortez, who promptly recovered from his mo- 
mentary weakness, manifested the utmost se- 
reneness and imperturbability of spirit, shared 
every hardship of the soldiers, and maintain- 
ed their confidence in him by surpassing all 
in the gallantry and the magnanimity of his 
courage. 

Exhausted and wounded as they were, it re- 
quired the toilsome journey of a week to reach 
the mountain summits which encircle the great 
valley of Mexico. As they approached the de- 
files of these mountains, parties of the enemy 
were seen here and there in increasing; numbers. 
The natives shouted to them from a distance 
insults, defiance, and threats. Marina, who for- 
tunately escaped the massacre of the dismal 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 237 

Appearance of the enemy. Apprehensions of Cortez. 

nighty remarked tliat they often, in exultant 
tones, exclaimed, 

"Hurry along, robbers, hurry along; you 
will soon meet with the vengeance due to your 
crimes." 

The significance of this threat was soon made 
manifest. As the Spaniards were emerging 
from a narrow pass among the cliffs of the 
mountains, they came suddenly upon an ex- 
tended plain. Here, to their amazement, they 
found an enormous army of the natives filling 
the whole expanse, and apparently cutting off 
all possibility of farther retreat. The sight was 
sufficient to appal the most dauntless heart. 
The whole plain, as far as the eye could ex- 
tend, seemed as a living ocean of armed men, 
with its crested billows of banners, and gleam- 
ing spears, and helmets, and plumes. Even the 
heart of Cortez for a moment sank within him 
as his practiced eye told him that there w^ere 
two hundred thousand warriors there in battle 
array, through whose serried ranks he must cut 
his bloody path or perish. To all the Span- 
iards it seemed certain that their last liour had 
now tolled ; but each man resolved to sell his 
life as dearly as possible. 

Cortez immediately assembled his band 



238 Hernando Coetez. 



Superstition of the Mexicans. 



around him, and invigorated them with a forci- 
ble harangue. He assured them that there was 
no possible hope but in the energies of despair ; 
but that, with those energies, they might confi- 
dently expect God's blessing, for they were his 
servants, his missionaries, endeavoring to over- 
throw the idols of the heathen, and to introduce 
the religion of the cross. In solid column, with 
their long spears bristling in all directions, and 
clad in coats of mail which protected a great 
part of their bodies from both arrow and spear, 
they plunged desperately into the dense masses 
of the enemy. Wherever this solid body of 
iron men directed its course, the tumultuous 
throng of the foe was pierced and dashed aside, 
as the stormy billows of the ocean yield to the 
careering steamer. The marvelous incidents 
of this fight would occupy pages. The onset 
of the Spaniards was so fierce that the natives 
could present no effectual resistance ; but as 
the Indians were compelled to retire from the 
front of the assailing column, they closed up 
with shouts of vengeance and with redoubled 
fury upon the flanks and the rear. Cortez had 
heard that the superstition of the Mexicans was 
such that the fate of a battle depended upon 
the imperial banner, which was most carefully 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 239 

The capture of the standard. The natives flee. Arrival at Tlascala. 

guarded in the centre of the army. If that 
were taken, the natives deemed themselves for- 
saken by their gods, and in dismay would break 
and fly. In the distance, for there was no 
smoke of artillery to darken this field of battle, 
he saw this standard proudly waving in the 
breeze. With impetuosity which crushed down 
aU opposition, he pushed toward it. The stand- 
ard-bearers were stricken down and pinned to 
the earth with lances. Cortez, with his own 
hand, seized the sacred banner, and as he waved 
it aloft his soldiers raised a simultaneous shout 
of triumph. 

The natives, with cries of rage, grief, and de- 
spair, in the wildest tumult, broke and fled to 
the mountains. Their gods had abandoned 
them. The victory of the Spaniards was com- 
plete. They record, though doubtless with ex- 
aggeration, for they had no leisure to stop and 
count the slain, that twenty thousand of their 
enemies were left dead upon that bloody field. 
With new alacrity the victors now pressed on, 
and the next day entered the territory of the 
Tlascalans. 

Here they were received with the greatest 
kindness. The enmity of the Tlascalans against 
the Mexicans was so inveterate, and their desire 



240 Heknando Cortez. 

Enmity of the Tlascalans against the Mexicans. New disasters. 

to avenge the death of their countrymen so in- 
tense, that they still clung tenaciously to the 
Spanish alliance, with the hope that new re- 
sources might arrive which would enable the 
Spaniards to retrieve their fallen fortunes. 

In the hospitable city of Tlascala Cortez al- 
lowed his shattered battalions that repose which 
was now so indispensable. Nearly all his men 
were suffering severely from, sickness, fatigue, 
and wounds. But here the Spanish chieftain 
learned of new disasters which had befallen him. 
A detachment of Spanish soldiers, who were 
marching from Zempoalla to the capital as a re- 
enforcement, had been cut off by the natives 
and entirely destroyed. A small party, who 
had been sent to convey some treasures from 
Tlascala to Yera Cruz, had also been surprised 
and destroyed among the mountains. Wheii 
the life of every Spaniard was of so much im- 
portance, these were, indeed, terrible additional 
calamities. 

The companions of Cor-tez were now thor- 
oughly disheartened, and were anxious to re- 
turn to Yera Cruz, send a vessel to Cuba for 
some transports, and abandon the enterprise ; 
but the indomitable warrior, though lying upon 
the bed in a raging fever, and while a surgeon 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 241 

New designs of Cortes. Efforts to collect recruits. 

was cutting off two of his mutilated and in- 
flamed fingers, and raising a portion of the bone 
of his skull, which had been splintered by the 
club of a native, was forming his plans to return 
to Mexico and reconquer what he had lost. 
The resources at his command still appeared to 
him sufficient to form a nucleus around which 
to assemble a new army. The garrison at Yera 
Cruz, with its artillery and military stores, 
still remained unimpaired ; the Tlascalans and 
Zempoallana continued firm in their alliance ; 
and he still could assemble, notwithstanding 
his losses, as large a force as accompanied him 
in his first march into Mexico. He therefore 
resolved to make vigorous and prompt prepara- 
tions to prosecute his enterprise anew. He 
wrote to his sovereign an account of the disas- 
ters he had encountered, saying, *'I can not be- 
lieve that the good and merciful God will thus 
suffer his cause to perish among the heathen." 
With great energy and sagacity he aroused 
himself for this new effort. He made special 
exertions to secure the cordial co-operation of 
the Tlascalan chiefs, by distributing among 
them the rich spoil taken in his last battle. 
He dispatched four ships, selected from the fleet 
captured from Narvaez, to Hispaniola and Ja- 

Q 



242 Hernando Coetez. 

Preparations for building ships. Remonstrance of Ills companions, 

maica, to collect recruits and supplies. That he 
might secure the command of the lake, he pre- 
pared, with the ready aid of the Tlascalans, ma- 
terials for building twelve vessels, to be con- 
veyed in pieces by the men of burden to the 
lake, there to be put together and launched upon 
the waters. 

The companions of Cortez had, however, by 
far too vivid a recollection of the horrors of the 
dismal night to participate in the zeal of their 
commander. Murmurs against the enterprise 
grew louder and louder, until the camp was al- 
most in a state of mutiny. They assembled, 
and appointed a delegation to wait upon their 
commander, and remonstrate against another at- 
tempt, with his broken battalions, to subjugate 
so powerful an empire. Respectfully, but firm- 
ly, they demanded to be taken back to Cuba. 
AH the .arguments and entreaties of Cortez were 
of no avail to change their minds or to allay 
their anxieties. 

We have before mentioned that a detach- 
ment of soldiers from Yera Cruz had been cut 
off by the natives. The assailing force was 
from one of the Mexican provinces in the vicin- 
ity of Tlascala, called Tepeaca. The soldiers, 
without much unwillingness, consented to march 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 243 

The foray. Plunder. The Governor of Cuba sends ships to Vera Cruz. 

to their region, and chastise them for the deed. 
The enterprise would be attended with but lit- 
tle danger, and promised a large amount of 
bootj. It was now the month of August. 
Cortez headed the expedition, and in the foray 
of a few weeks, after an enormous slaughter of 
the Tepeacans, reduced the province to subjec- 
tion, and returned to Tlascala laden with plun- 
der. Another foray was soon undertaken, and 
then another. Thus, for five months, while he 
was collecting recruits and accumulating sup- 
plies, he adroitly kept his men employed in va- 
rious military expeditions till they again be- 
came accustomed to victory, and were ready to 
enter upon a wider field of glory, which should 
open before them more brilliant prospects for 
wealth. Fortune, it is said, helps those who 
help themselves. This inflexibility of purpose 
and untiring energy on the part of Cortez, was 
accompanied by what is usually termed the 
gifts of peculiarly good fortune. 

The Governor of Cuba, unaware of the disas- 
ter which had befallen Narvaez, sent two ships 
after him with a supply of men and military 
stores. These vessels were decoyed into the 
harbor of Vera Cruz, the stores seized, and the 
men were easily induced to enter into the serv- 
ice of Cortez. 



244 Heenando Cortez. 

Expedition from the Governor of Jamaica. Collection of arms. 

The Governor of Jamaica fitted out an expe- 
dition of three ships to prosecute an expedition 
of discovery and conquest. Thej were very 
unfortunate, and, after many disasters, these 
ships, their crews being almost in a famishing 
state, cast anchor at Vera Cruz. They listen- 
ed eagerly to the brilliant prospects which Cor- 
tez held out to them, and enlisted under his 
banner. At the same time, it also happened 
that a ship arrived from Spain, fitted out by 
some private merchants with military stores, 
and other articles for traffic among the natives. 
Cortez immediately purchased the cargo, and 
induced the crew to follow the example of the 
others, and join his army. At last, the agents 
he sent to Hispaniola and Jamaica returned, 
with two hundred soldiers, eighty horses, two 
battering-cannon, and a considerable supply of 
ammunition and muskets. Cortez had in these 
various ways now collected about him eight 
hundred and eighteen foot-soldiers, eighty-six 
horsemen, three battering-cannon, and fifteen 
field-pieces. 

He established his head-quarters at Tepeaca, 
on a small river which ran into the lake. The 
iron, the planks, the timber, the masts, the cord- 
age, and the materials necessary to construct 



Battle of the Dismal Night. 245 



Equipping the fleet The vessels baptized. 

and equip a fleet of thirteen brigantines, were 
to be carried a distance of sixty miles, over 
rough roads, on the shoulders of men. Eight 
thousand men of burden were furnished by the 
Tlascalans for this work. Tepeaca was two 
miles from the shore of the lake, and the rivu- 
let upon which it was situated was shallow. A 
large number of natives were employed for two 
months in deepening the channel, that the ves- 
sels might be floated down. Though the Mex- 
icans made many attacks while the brigantines 
were being built, they Avere invariably repulsed. 
At length the fleet was finished, and the whole 
army was drawn up to witness, with all the ac- 
companiments of religious and military pomp, 
tlie launching of the ships. Each vessel re- 
ceived a baptismal name and a blessing from 
Father Olmedo. They glided smoothly down 
the river, and were wafted out upon the lake, 
a fleet amply strong to set all the power of the 
Mexicans at defiance. A general shout of joy 
burst from the lips of the Spaniards and Tlas- 
calans as they observed the triumphant success 
of this measure. All despondency now disap- 
peared, and, sanguine of success, the whole army 
was eager again to march to the assault of the 
capital. 



246 HeknandO Coetez. 

Preparations for defense. Cuitlahua. 



Chapter IX. 

The Capital Besieged and Cap- 
tured. 

WHILE Cortez was thus vigorously pre- 
paring to renew the assault upon the city 
of Mexico, the Mexicans were no less busy in 
their preparations for defense. Upon the death 
of Montezuma, the crown passed to his more 
warlike brother Cuitlahua. By his energies the 
Spaniards had been driven from the metropolis, 
and he immediately, Avith great vigor, fortified 
the city anew, and recruited and drilled his ar- 
mies, now familiar with the weapons of Euro- 
pean warfare. He sent an embassy to the 
Tlascalans, urging alliance against a common 
foe, and endeavoring to incite them to rise and 
crush the Spaniards, who, without their alli- 
ance, v/ould have been entirely helpless. The 
sagacity of Cortez, however, baffled these ef- 
forts, and he succeeded in binding the Tlasca- 
lans to him by still stronger ties. 

Among other woes, the Spaniards had intro- 
duced the small-pox into Mexico. The terri- 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 247 



Pestilence. Guatemozin. 



The brigantines. 



We curse now swept like a blast of destruc- 
tion through the land. The natives perished 
by thousands. Manj cities and villages were 
almost depopulated. The fearful pestilence 
reached the Mexican capital, and the emperor, 
Cuitlahua, soon fell a victim to its ravages. 

Guatemozin, the son-in-law of Montezuma, 
was then, bj the unanimous acclaim of his 
countrymen, placed upon tlie throne. He was 
a young man of high reputation for ability and 
force of character, and proved himself the wor- 
thy leader of his nation in this dreadful crisis 
of its fate. Guatemozin assembled all his forces 
in the capital, as the strongest point upon which 
they could stand upon their defense. 

Cortez decided to make the assault by three 
divisions of the army, each marching over one 
of the causeways. Sandoval was to command 
on the north, Alvarado on the west, and Olid 
on the south. Cortez reserved to himself the 
command of the brigantines, which were to 
sweep the lakes, and drive the war-canoes of 
the natives from the causeways. Each brio-- 
antine was manned with twenty-five Spaniards, 
and armed with a cannon, whose shot would 
make fearful havoc among the frail and crowd- 
ed canoes^ of the Mexicans. 



248 Hernando Cortez. 

The fleet is attacked The Spanish victorious 

Guatemozin immediately foresaw how much 
he had to dread from this fleet, and decided 
that, at every hazard, he must attempt its de- 
struction. He accordingly assembled an enor- 
mous mass of canoes, hoping by numbers to 
overpower the enemy. The day was calm ; 
not a ripple disturbed the glassy surface of the 
water, when a fleet of canoes, in numbers which 
could not be counted, pushed out boldly into 
the lake to assail the brigantines lying at an- 
chor. 

But just then, to the great joy of the Span- 
iards and to the dismay of the Mexicans, a fresh 
and favorable breeze arose, which would drive 
the brigantines resistlessly through the swarm 
of fragile boats which were approaching them. 
The sails were instantly spread, the cannon 
were loaded almost to the muzzle, and the work 
of death began. The heavy vessels crushed the 
canoes, overturned them, drove them one upon 
another in indescribable confusion, while the 
merciless shot pierced bones, and nerves, and 
sinews, and the surface of the lake was cov- 
ered with the mutilated bodies of the dying 
and of the dead. The water was red with 
blood, and in a short time the fleet was de- 
stroyed ; but few of the boats escaped. The 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 249 

Dismay of the Mexicans. Cortez's skill. 

Mexicans, from their house-tops, gazed with dis- 
may upon this awful scene of carnage, and 
were oppressed Avith fearful forebodings that no 
degree of courage and no superiority of num- 
bers could avail them against the terrible en- 
gines of destruction which European skill had 
framed. 

Cortez was now completely master of the 
lake. He formed his brigantines into three di- 
visions, to cover the assailants on the three 
causeways and to protect them from any attack 
by canoes. He thus also preserved communi- 
cation, prompt and effective, between the differ- 
ent divisions of his army. The military skill 
displayed by Cortez in all these arrangements 
is of the highest kind. The conquest of Mex- 
ico was not achieved by accident, but by sa- 
gacity, persevering energy, and patient toil al- 
most unparalleled. 

The siege was now prosecuted with the most 
determined vigor. The approaches were made 
along the three causeways. The natives had 
broken down the bridges and reared a succes- 
sion of formidable barricades, and as they were 
driven from one by the irresistible force of ar- 
tillery, they retired, with firmness worthy of ad- 
miration, to the next, there to maintain their 



250 Hernando Cortez. 

The siege continued. Obstinate resistance. 

post to the last possible moment. The Ibrigan- 
tines approached the sides of the causeways 
and opened a destructive fire upon the valiant 
defenders, where the Spaniards were exposed 
to no danger in return. Thus for nearly three 
months, by day and by night, on the land and 
on the water, the bloody strife was continued. 

Cortez was astonished at the obstinacy and 
efficiency of the resistance effected by the be- 
sieged. Gradually, however, the besiegers ad- 
vanced, carefully filling up behind them the 
gaps in the causeway, that they might easily, 
if necessary, effect a retreat. They were taught 
the necessity of this precaution by a terrible 
repulse which they at one time encountered. 
Guatemozin, with a quick military eye, perceiv- 
ing that the causeway occupied by one of the 
divisions of the Spaniards was impassable be- 
hind the Spaniards from trenches unfilled, and 
broken bridges, and the ruins of barricades, or- 
dered the Mexican troops to retire, to lure the 
Spaniards forward. He then collected an enor- 
mous force, dispatching some in canoes along 
shallows which the brigantines could not ap- 
proach, and then, at a signal from the great 
alarm drum on the summit of the temple, whose 
doleful tones could be heard for miles, the whole 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 251 

Sortie by the Mexicans. Preparations for sacrifice. 

mass, with frantic rage, stimulated bj hope, 
rushed upon the foe. The sudden assault, so 
impetuous, and sustained by such vast num- 
bers, was quite successful. The Spaniards 
were driven back in confusion, horsemen and 
infantry crowding upon each other, till multi- 
tudes were forced, pell-mell, horses, and can- 
non, and men, into the chasms. Here the na- 
tives, in their liglit canoes, fell furiously upon 
them. More than twenty Spaniards were kill- 
ed outright, and forty, mangled and bleeding, 
fell alive into the hands of the victors. There 
was no possible escape for the captives from 
their doom. They were to be sacrificed to the 
gods. 

This was an awful reverse, and the Spaniards 
were horror-stricken in contemplating the fate 
of their captured comrades. The capital was 
that night illuminated with great brilliance, and 
the splendor of the great pyramidal temple, 
blazing with innumerable torches, gleamed far 
and wide over the lake. It v/as an awful spec- 
tacle to the Spaniards, for they well knew the 
scenes which were transpiring on that lofty al- 
tar of idolatry. The preparations for the sac- 
rifice could be distinctly seen, and the move- 
ments of the sacrificial priests. The white 



252 Hernando Cortez. 

'lorturing the captives. The sacrifice. 

bodies of the victims could also be clearly dis 
cerned as they were stripped naked for the tor- 
ture and the knife ; and when the awful torture 
was applied, the shrieks of the wretched suffer- 
ers pierced the still night air, and penetrated 
the camp of the Spaniards. They listened ap- 
palled to those cries of agony, imagining that 
they could distinguish each victim by the sound 
of his voice. 

This awful scene is thus described by Diaz : 
" On a sudden, our ears were struck by the hor- 
rific sound of the great drum, the timbrels, 
horns, and trumpets on the temple. We all 
directed our eyes thither, and, shocking to re- 
late, saw our unfortunate countrymen driven by 
blows to the place where they were to be sac- 
rificed, which bloody ceremony was accompa- 
nied by the dismal sound of all the instruments 
of the temple. We perceived that when they 
had brought the wretched victims to the flat 
summit of the body of the temple, they put 
plumes upon their heads, and made them dance 
before their accursed idols. When they had 
done this, they laid them upon their backs on 
the stone used for the purpose, where they cut 
out their hearts alive, and having presented 
them, yet palpitating, to their gods, they drew 



The Capital BESiEasD, etc. 253 

The Mexicans are elated by their victory. 

the bodies down the steps by the feet, where 
they were taken by others of their priests. Let 
the reader think what were our sensations on 
this occasion. O heavenly God! said we to 
ourselves, do not suffer us to be sacrificed by 
these wretches. Do not suffer us to die so cru- 
el a death. And then, how shocking a reflec- 
tion, that we were unable to relieve our poor 
friends, who were thus murdered before our 
eyes." 

This victory elated the Mexicans exceeding- 
ly. They cut off the heads of the sacrificed 
Spaniards, and sent them to the adjacent prov- 
inces, to prove that their gods, now appeased by 
this signal offering of blood, had abandoned the 
enemy. The priests sent the assurance far and 
wide that victory was now certain, as the or- 
acles had returned the response that in eight 
days the detested enemy should be entirely de- 
stroyed. This prediction exerted a great influ- 
ence upon a superstitious people. Many of the 
natives who had joined Cortez deserted his 
cause, and even the Tlascalans began to waver. 
The prudence and shrewdness of Cortez again 
met the danger and averted it. For eight days 
he made no advance, but merely stood on the 
defensive. The predicted time having expired, 



254 Hernando Cortez. 

Shrewdness of Cortez. His allies 

he said, " You see that the gods have deceived 
the Mexicans. They have espoused our cause." 

The fickle people immediately returned to 
their stations, and others joined them, so that 
Cortez, according to his own account, now found 
himself at the head of one hundred and fifty 
thousand Indians. Gomara and Herrera as- 
sert that there were not less than two hundred 
thousand. The number of defenders in the 
Mexican capital can not with accuracy be as- 
certained. It is estimated, however, from va- 
rious considerations, that there must have been 
at least two hundred thousand. 

The Spaniards, in this sanguinary and pro- 
tracted siege, often suffered severely for want 
of food. With apparent reluctance, the histo- 
rians of the expedition record that their Indian 
auxiliaries found quite an abundant supply for 
themselves in the bodies of their enemies. 
Some of them were rather ashamed to acknowl- 
edge that their auxiliaries were inveterate can- 
nibals. Cortez, however, alludes to their hor- 
rible repasts quite in a tone of indifference. 

With greater caution the Spaniards now ad- 
vanced, fortifying every point they gained, and 
preparing a smooth and unobstructed road in 
their rear. Their progress was exceedingly slow. 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 255 

Progress of the siege. The allies in the city. 

and it was necessary to adopt every possible 
precaution against an enemy who had manifest- 
ed such unexpected audacity and skill. As the 
Spaniards pushed forward, the Mexicans, con- 
testing every inch of the way, sullenly retired, 
rearing "barricade after barricade, and digging 
ditch behind ditch. But artillery and Europe- 
an science were sure, in the end, to triumph. 
Gradually the three divisions of the army forced 
their way across the causeways, and entered the 
streets of the city. But here the defense was, 
if possible, still more determined and sangui- 
nary. Every street was a guarded defile, where 
every obstacle was interposed which Mexican 
military skill could devise. Every house was 
a fortress, from whose battlemented roof and 
loop-holed windows a shower of stones, arrows, 
and javelins fell upon the besiegers. As the 
Spaniards gained ground, step by step, they 
leveled every house, and left entire ruin and 
desolation behind them. 

Day after day and week after week of this 
unparalleled siege lingered along, every hour of 
which almost was a battle. The Mexicans fell 
in incredible numbers. The horrors of pesti- 
lence and famine in the pent-up city were soon 
added to the awful carnage and misery of war. 



256 Heenando Cortez. 

Sufferings of the Mexicans. Tlie public square. 

The brigantines swept the lake, cutting off near- 
ly all supplies by water for the valiant yet starv- 
ing defenders, while the armies on the cause- 
ways completely invested the city by land. 
Wan and haggard, these unhappy victims of 
European aggression, even when all hope of 
successful resistance had expired, heroically re- 
solved to perish to the last man, and to bury 
themselves beneath the ruins of their city. 

Even the heart of Cortez was touched with 
the almost unearthly misery he was inflicting 
upon an unoffending people. Again and again 
he sent to Guatemozin demanding capitulation ; 
but the proud Mexican monarch rejected every 
overture with indignation and scorn. At length 
the three divisions of the army, from their three 
different points of attack, penetrated the city so 
far as to meet at the great public square. The 
whole western portion of the city was now in 
the power of the besiegers. The starving and 
dying defenders were shut up in a small section 
of less than one fourth of the capital. 

The Spaniards, now sure of success, pressed 
the siege with new ardor. Their forces had 
met, and were combined in the great square. 
The avenues connecting with the country were 
all open before them, so that they could freely 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 257 

Affairs in the Mexican camp. A desperate resolvb. 

go and come. The lake was swept by the brig- 
antines, and, though a swift canoe could occa- 
sionally shoot along the shore, the natives could 
not venture, in the face of such a force, to cross 
the wide expanse of water. Affairs in the Mex- 
ican camp were now in the very darkest state 
of misery and gloom. 

The Mexicans regarded their monarch with 
superstitious veneration. Upon his life all their 
destinies were suspended. His voice was om- 
nipotent with the people. After long deliber- 
ation, the desperate resolve was adopted to send 
Guatemozin in a canoe across the broad waters 
of the lake, which like an ocean swept around 
the city, to the eastern shore. But Cortez, ever 
on the alert, anticipated this movement, and or- 
dered the brigantines to maintain the most vig- 
ilant watch. The Mexicans, to deceive Cortez, 
sent an embassy to him to confer upon terms 
of capitulation. They hoped thus to engage his 
attention so that Guatemozin could escape un- 
perceived, and, having roused all the distant 
provinces, who would spring to arms at his 
voice, could make an assault upon the rear of 
the foe. 

Sandoval was now placed in command of the 
brigantines. He observed one morning sev- 
R 



258 Hernando Cortez. 



Pursuit. The monarch captured. His dignity. 



eral canoes, crowded with people and plied by 
strong rowers, shoot from the city, and direct 
their course across the lake toward the eastern 
shore. The signal was instantly given for pur- 
suit. Unfortunately for the Mexicans, a favor- 
able breeze sprang up, and one of the brigan- 
tines soon drew near the largest boat. The can- 
non was loaded, and heavily shotted and aimed. 
The gunner stood ready with his lighted torch. 
In another moment the fatal discharge would 
have strewed the lake with the fragments of the 
boat and the mangled bodies of the slain. The 
Mexicans, regardless of their own lives, but in- 
tensely anxious for the safety of their sovereign, 
dropped their oars, and holding up their hands 
beseechingly, with cries and tears, besought the 
Spaniards not to fire, exclaiming that the em- 
peror was there. 

Eagerly the precious prize was seized. The 
heroic Guatemozin with dignity surrendered 
himself into the hands of his victors, asking no 
favor for himself, but simply requesting that no 
insult might be offered to the empress or his 
children, who were in the boat with him. With 
much exultation, the captive monarch, who was 
but twenty-four years of age, was conveyed to 
the shore, and conducted into the presence of 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 261 

Gualemozin's fortitude. Pretended magnanimity of Cortez. 

Cortez. Guatemozin retained his fortitude un- 
shaken. Looking firmly upon his conqueror, 
he said, loftily, 

"I have done what became a monarch. I 
have defended my people to the last extremity. 
Nothing now remains for me but to die. Take 
this dagger," he continued, placing his hand 
upon the one which Cortez wore at his side, 
" and plunge it into my bosom, and thus end a 
life which is henceforth useless." 

Cortez well knew how to act the part of mag- 
nanimity. He was by instinct a man of prince- 
ly manners. Castilian grace and dignity ever 
shone pre-eminent in his movements. He en- 
deavored to console his vanquished foe, whose 
bold defense commanded his respect. 

"You are not my captive," said he, "but the 
prisoner of the greatest monarch of Europe. 
From his great clemency, you may hope not 
only that you may be restored to liberty, but 
that you may again be placed upon the throne 
which you have so valiantly defended." 

Guatemozin had no confidence in the word 
of Cortez. He knew well the perfidy and the 
treachery which had marked every step of the 
invader's march thus far. Proudly disdaining 
to manifest any concern for his own fate, he 



262 Heenando Cortez. 

The Mexicans surrender. Loss of the Spanish. 

plead only that Cortez would be merciful to his 
suiFering people. The conqueror promised com- 
passion if Guatemozin would command their 
instant surrender. This was promptly done, 
and the command was instantly obeyed. The 
Mexicans lost all heart as soon as they learned 
that their monarch was a prisoner. Cortez im- 
mediately took possession of the small portion 
of the city which still remained undestroyed. 

Thus terminated this memorable siege, one 
of the most remarkable which has been record- 
ed in the horrid annals of war. It had contin- 
ued for seventy-five days of almost incessant 
conflict. Almost every hour the fiercest battle 
raged, as step by step the assailants, with the 
utmost effort and difficulty, crowded back the 
valiant defenders. No less than one hundred 
and fifty thousand Mexicans perished in this 
awful and atrocious siege. The Spaniards, who 
wished to make their loss appear as small as 
possible, admit that one hundred of the Span- 
ish soldiers fell, and many thousands of their 
allies. 

Nearly the whole capital was now but a mass 
of blackened and smouldering ruins. Its nu- 
merous squares, streets, and courts, but recent- 
ly so beautiful in their neat order, and their em- 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 263 

Appearance of the captured city. 

bellishments of shrubbery and flowers, were 
now clotted with blood and covered with the 
mangled bodies of the slain. The sight was 
liideous even to those accustomed to all the re- 
volting scenes which demoniac war ever brings 
in its train. 

The ground was covered with the dead. 
Among the putrefying heaps some ^vretches 
were seen, wounded, bleeding, and crawling 
about in advanced stages of those loathsome 
diseases produced by famine and misery. 

The air was so polluted with, the masses of 
the dead, decaying beneath the rays of a tropic- 
al sun, that Cortez was compelled to withdraw 
his army from the city that the dead might be 
removed and the streets purified. For three 
days and three nights the causeways were 
thronged by endless processions of the natives 
bearing the mouldering corpses from the city. 
But the Spaniards were insensible to the woes 
which they had inflicted upon others in their 
exultation over their great victory. They had 
conquered the enemy. The capital was in their 
hands, and they had now but to collect the 
boundless treasures which they supposed were 
accumulated in the halls of Montezuma. It 
was on Tuesday, the 13th of August, 1521, that 



264 Hernando Cortez. 

Piety of Cortez. Searching for the treasure* 



the conflict ceased. The mighty empire of 
Mexico on that day perished, and there remain- 
ed in its stead but a colony of Spain. 

On the very day of the capture Cortez search- 
ed every spot where treasure could be found, 
and having collected every thing of value, re- 
turned to his camp, "giving thanks," he says, 
" to our Lord for so signal a reward and so de- 
sirable a victory as he has granted us." He 
continued for three or four days searching eager- 
ly for spoils, amid all the scenes of horror pre- 
sented by the devastated city. All the gold 
and silver which were found were melted down, 
and one fifth was set apart for the King of 
Spain, while the rest was divided among the 
Spaniards according to their rank and serv- 
ices. 

"Among the spoils obtained in the city," 
says Cortez, in his dispatch to Charles V., 
"were many shields of gold, plumes, panaches, 
and other articles of so wonderful a character, 
that language will not convey an idea of them, 
nor could a correct conception be formed of 
their rare excellence without seeing them." 

Still the booty which was gained fell far 
short of the expectation of the victors. The 
heroic Guatemozin, when, the hope of success- 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 265 

The native allies. 1 hsir carousals. 

ful defense had expired, determined that the 
conquerors should not be enriched by the treas- 
ures of the empire. A vast amount was conse- 
quently sent out in boats, and sunk to the bot- 
tom of the lake. For a short time, however, 
exultation in view of their great victory caused 
both the commander and his soldiers to forget 
their disappointment ; love of glory for a mo- 
ment triumphed over avarice. 

The native allies had been but tools in the 
hand of Cortez to subjugate the Mexicans. The 
deluded natives had thus also subjugated them- 
selves. They were now powerless, and the 
bond-servants of the Spaniards. Cortez allow- 
ed them to sack the few remaining dwellings 
of the smouldering capital, and to load them- 
selves with such articles as might seem valua- 
ble to semi-barbarian eyes, but which would 
have no cash value in Spain. With this share 
of the plunder they were satisfied, and their 
camp resounded with revelry as those fierce 
warriors, with songs and dances, exulted over 
the downfall of their ancient foes. Cortez 
thanked them for their assistance, praised them 
for their valor, and told them that they might 
now go home. They went home, soon to find 
that it was to them home no morev The stran- 



266 Hernando Cortez. 

Spanish revelries and religious celebrations. 

ger possessed their country, and they and their 
children were his slaves. 

In the Spanish camp the victory was honored 
by a double celebration. The first was purely 
worldly, and religion was held entirely in abey- 
ance. Bonfires blazed. Deep into the night 
the drunken revelry resounded over the lake, 
until Father Olmedo remonstrated against such 
godless wassail. 

The next day was appropriated to the relig- 
ious celebration. The whole army was formed 
into a procession. The image of the peaceful 
Virgin was decorated with tattered, blackened, 
and bloodstained banners, beneath which the 
Christians had so successfully struggled against 
the heathen. With hymns and chants, and in 
the repetition of creeds and prayers, this piratic 
band of fanatics, crimson with the blood of the 
innocent, moved to an appointed sanctuary, 
where Father Olmedo preached an impressive 
sermon, and solemnized the ordinance of the 
mass. The sacrament was administered to Cor- 
tez and his captains, and, with the imposing ac- 
companiments of martial music and pealing ar- 
tillery, thanksgivings were offered to God. 

Bernal Diaz gives the following quaint and 
graphic account of these festivities : " After 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 267 

An entertainment. The plant of Noah. 

having returned thanks to God, Cortez determ- 
ined to celebrate his success by a festival in 
Cujoacan. A vessel had arrived at Yilla Rica 
with a cargo of wine, and hogs had been pro- 
vided from the island of Cuba. To this en- 
tertainment he invited all the officers of his 
army, and also the soldiers of estimation. All 
things being prepared, on the day appointed we 
waited on our general. 

" When we came to sit down to dinner, there 
were not tables for one half of us. This brought 
on great confusion among the company, and, 
indeed, for many reasons, it would have been 
much better let alone. The jplant of Noah 
was the cause of many fooleries and worse 
things. It made some leap over the tables 
who afterward could not go out at the doors, 
and many rolled down the steps. The private 
soldiers swore they would buy horses with 
golden harness. The cross-bow-men would 
use none but golden arrows. All were to have 
their fortunes made. 

" When the tables were taken away, the sol- 
diers danced in their armor with the ladies, as 
many of them as there were, but the dispropor- 
tion in numbers was very great. This scene 
was truly ridiculous. I will not mention the 



268 Hernando Cortez. 

Father Olmedo. Religious ceremonies. 

names ; suffice it to say, a fair field was open 
for satire. -Father Olmedo tliought what he 
observed at the feast and in the dances too 
scandalous, and complained to Sandoval. The 
latter directly told Cortez how the reverend fa- 
ther was scolding and grumbling. 

*' Cortez, discreet in all his actions, immedi- 
ately went to Father Olmedo, and, affecting to 
disapprove of the whole affair, requested that 
he would order a solemn mass and thanksgiv- 
ing, and preach a sermon to the soldiers of the 
moral and religious duties. Father Olmedo 
was highly pleased at this, thinking it had orig<* 
inated spontaneously from Cortez, and not 
knowing that the hint had been given him by 
Sandoval. Accordingly, the crucifixes and the 
image of Our Lady were borne in solemn pro- 
cession, with drums and standards. The Lita- 
ny was sung during the ceremony. Father Ol- 
medo preached and administered the sacrament^ 
and we returned thanks to God for our victory." 

But now came the hour for discontent and 
murmuring. The excitement was over, the 
din of arms was hushed, the beautiful city was 
entirely destroyed, and two hundred thousand 
of the wretched inhabitants, whose only crime 
against the Spaniards was that they defended 



The Capital BESiEaED, etc. 269 

Discontent. Clamors of the army. Cortex yields. 

their wives, their children, and their homes, 
were festering in the grave. In counting up 
their gains, these guilt j men found that the 
whole sum amounted to but about one hundred 
and twenty thousand dollars. Their grievous 
disappointment vented itself in loud complain- 
ings, and was soon turned into rage. They 
accused Guatemozin of having secreted the 
treasure which had been hoarded up, and de- 
manded that he should be put to the torture to 
compel him to disclose the place of concealment. 
Cortez, for a time, firmly refused to yield to this 
atrocious demand ; but the clamor of the disaf- 
fected grew louder and louder, until at last 
Cortez was accused of being in agreement with 
Guatemozin, that he might appropriate to his 
own use the secreted treasure. 

Thus goaded, Cortez infamously consented 
that the unhappy captive monarch should be 
put to the torture. The cacique of Tacuba, 
the companion of Guatemozin, and his highest 
officer, was put to the torture with him. A hot 
fire was kindled, and the feet of the wretched 
victims, drenched in oil, were exposed to the 
burning coals. Guatemozin had nothing to re- 
veal. He could merely assert that the treas- 
ures of the city were thrown into the lake. 



270 IIeenando Cortez. 

Guatemozin's tortures. Cortez rescues him 

With extraordinary fortitude he endured the 
agony, adding additional lustre to a name al- 
ready ennobled by the heroism with which he 
conducted the defense. His companion died 
upon this bed of agony. In the extremity of 
his torment, he turned an imploring eye toward 
the king. Guatemozin, it is recorded, observ- 
ing his look, replied, "Am I, then, reposing 
upon a bed of flowers ?" Cortez, who had re- 
luctantly yielded to this atrocity, at last inter- 
posed, and rescued the imperial sufferer. Cor- 
tez has much to answer for before the bar of 
this world's judgment. For many of his crim- 
inal acts some apology may be framed, but for 
the torture of Guatemozin he stands condemn- 
ed w^ithout excuse. No voice will plead his 
cause. Cortez seemed to be fully aware that 
it was not a creditable story for him to tell, and 
in his dispatches to the King of Spain he made 
no allusion to the event. 

It was a grievous disappointment to Cortez 
that so little treasure was obtained, for his am- 
bition was roused to send immense sums to the 
Spanish court, that he might purchase high far 
vor with his monarch by thus proving the 
wealth and grandeur of the kingdom he had 
subjugated. Cortez himself accompanied a 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 271 

The divers. Nature of the Mexican empire. 

party of practiced divers upon the lake, and 
long and anxiously conducted the search ; but 
the divers invariably returned from the oozy 
bottom of the lake empty-handed : no treasure 
could be found. 

It has before been mentioned that the em- 
pire of Mexico consisted of a conglomeration 
of once independent nations, which had been in 
various ways annexed to the mammoth empire. 
It was somewliat like Austria, having many 
Hungarys and Polands ripe for revolt. Cortez 
had adroitly availed himself of these disaffec- 
tions in accomplishing his wonderful conquest. 
The Zempoallans and Tlascalans augmented his 
ranks with fierce warriors nearly two hundred 
thousand in number. There were many prov- 
inces of the empire on the north and the west 
which as yet no European foot had ever en- 
tered. It was a question whether these remote 
provinces would band together in hostility to 
the Spaniards, and thus indefinitely protract the 
conflict, or whether, seeing the capital in ruins 
and their monarch a captive, they would admit 
the hopelessness of the strife, and yield to their 
conquerors. 

Far and wide, through the valleys and over 
the mountains, the tidings of the annihilation 



272 Hernando Cortez. 

The various Mexican governments yield to ( ortez. 

of the Mexican army was borne by the Indian 
runners, awakening consternation every where 
in view of the resistless power of the victors. 
Some, however, who were restive under the 
Mexican yoke, were not unwilling to exchange 
masters. To the great relief and joy of Cortez, 
day after day, envoys flocked to his presence 
from powerful nations to proifer allegiance and 
implore clemency. Cortez received them all 
with great courtesy and hospitality, and took 
not a little pleasure in witnessing the amaze- 
ment with which these embassadors contem- 
plated the power, to them supernatural, which 
the Spaniards wielded. The brigantines spread 
their sails and plowed their way, with speed 
which no canoe could equal, over the foamy 
waters of the lake. The cavalry wheeled and 
charged in all those prompt and orderly evolu- 
tions to which the war-horse can be trained* 
And when the heavy artillery uttered its roar, 
and shivered the distant rock with its thunder- 
bolt, the envoys, amazed, bewildered, and ap- 
palled, were prepared to make any concessions 
rather than incur the displeasure of such fear- 
ful foes. 

The power of Cortez was now unquestioned, 
and Mexico was in the dust before him. Still, 



The Capital Besieged, etc, 273 

Perplexity of Cortez. His treason. Velasquez. 

the conqueror was in great perplexity respect- 
ing the h'ght in which his conduct was viewed 
in the court of his stern monarch, Charles Y. 
While engaged in the slaughter of two or three 
liundred thousand people, while overrunning na- 
tions and establishing new governments, he was 
acting not only without authority from his gov- 
ernment, but in direct opposition to its com- 
mands. Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, was 
invested with authority by the voice of the em- 
peror, and yet Cortez had set his power at de- 
fiance. By the command of the emperor, ex- 
peditions had been fitted out to prosecute dis- 
coveries and to acquire dominion in Mexico, 
and yet Cortez had audaciously made war upon 
these bands marching under the banner of 
Spain. He had slain many, taken the rest 
prisoners, and constrained them, by bribes and 
menaces, to join his marauding army. Cortez 
well knew that this was treason, and that he 
was liable to answer for it with his life. He 
well knew that Velasquez, mortified and exas- 
perated, had made bitter complaints against him 
at court, and that there was no one there effect- 
ually to plead his cause. 

Under these circumstances, Cortez awaited 
with much solicitude the next arrival from 
S 



274 Hernando Cortez. 



Cortez's labors His dispatches. 

Spain. In the mean time, he made every pos- 
sible eifort to transmit gold and silver to the 
Spanish monarch, and with untiring zeal nrged 
his discoveries, that he might ennoble himself 
and win the gratitude of his sovereign by add- 
ing to the wealth, the dominion, and the fame 
of his native kingdom. Wishing to assume 
that he was acting humbly as the servant of 
his king, he sent him, in the form of dispatches, 
a minute account of all his movements. 

As a specimen of these dispatches, the read- 
er will peruse with interest the following ac- 
count of the last two days of the siege. This 
dispatch is dated from the City of Cuyoacan 
{Mexico), May 15th, 1522. This city was on 
the main land, at the end of one of the cause- 
ways which led to the island capital. The let- 
ter is thus humbly addressed : 

"Most high and potent Prince; most cath- 
olic and invincible Emperor, iKing, and Lord." 

This narrative of the siege is so minute as to 
occupy one hundred and fifty closely-printed 
octavo pages, and gives a circumstantial account 
of the proceedings of each day. The closing 
paragraphs only are here extracted. The nar- 
rative which Cortez gives sometimes differs, in 
unimportant particulars, from that recorded by 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 275 

An extract. Cortez's address to the nobles. 

other historians of the campaign, who were eye- 
witnesses of the scenes which they described. 

"As soon as it was day, 1 caused our whole 
force to be in readiness, and the heavy guns to 
be brought out. The day before, 1 had order- 
ed Pedro de Alvarado to wait for me in the 
square of the market-place, and not to attack 
the enemy until I arrived. Being all assem- 
bled, and the brigantines drawn up ready for 
action on the right of the houses situated on 
the water, where the enemy were stationed, I 
directed that when they heard the discharge of 
a musket, the land force should enter the small 
part of the city that remained to be taken, and 
drive the enemy toward the water, where the 
brigantines lay. I enjoined much upon them 
to look for Guatemozin, and endeavor to take 
him alive, as in that case the war would cease. 
I then ascended a terrace, and, before the com- 
bat began, addressed some of the nobles whom 
I knew, asking them for what reason their sov- 
ereign refiised to come to me when they were 
reduced to such extremities, adding that there 
was no good cause why they should all perish, 
and that they should go and call him, and have 
no fears. 

" Two of the principal nobles then went to 



276^ Hernando Goetez. 

Ciquacoacin's reply. He departs. 

Gall the emperor. After a short time they re- 
turned, accompanied by one of the most consid- 
erable of their personages, Ciquacoacin, a cap- 
tain and governor over them all, by whose coun- 
sels the whole affairs of the war were conduct- 
ed. I received him with great kindness, that 
he might feel perfectly secure and free from ap- 
prehensions. At last he said that 'the em- 
peror would by no means come into my pres- 
ence, preferring rather to die ; that his determ- 
ination grieved him much, but that I must do 
w^hatever I desired.' When I saw that this was 
his settled purpose, I told the noble messenger, 
to return to his friends, and prepare for the re- 
newal of the war, which I was resolved to con- 
tinue until their destruction was complete. So 
he departed. 

"More than five hours had been spent in 
these conferences, during which time many of 
the inhabitants were crowded together upon 
piles of the dead ; some were on the water, and 
others were seen swimming about or drowning 
in the part of the lake where the canoes were 
lying, which was of considerable extent. . In^ 
deed, so excessive were the sufferings of the 
people, that no one could imagine how they 
were able to sustain them; and an immense 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 277 

Loss of the Mexicans. Fifty thousand killed. 

multitude of men, women, and children were 
compelled to seek refuge with us, many of 
whom, in their eagerness to reach us, threw 
themselves into the water, and were drowned 
among the mass of dead bodies. It appeared 
that the number of persons who had perished, 
either from drinking salt water, from famine or 
pestilence, amounted altogether to more than 
fifty thousand souls. 

"In order to conceal their necessitous condi- 
tion from our knowledge, the bodies of the dead 
were not thrown into the water, lest the brig- 
antines should come in contact with them, nor 
were they taken away from the places where 
they had died, lest we should see them about 
the city ; but in those streets where they had 
perished we found heaps of dead bodies so fre- 
quent, that a person passing could not avoid 
stepping upon them ; and when the people of 
the city flocked toward us, I caused Spaniards, 
to be stationed through all the streets to pre- 
vent our allies from destroying the wretched 
persons who came out in such multitudes. I 
also charged the captains of our allies to forbid, 
by ail means in their power, the slaughter of 
these fugitives ; yet all my precautions were' 
insufficient to prevent it, and that day more 



278 Heenando Coktez. 

Cannonading the city. The musketry. 

than fifteen thousand lost their lives. At the 
same time, the "better classes and the warriors 
of the city were pent up within narrow limits, 
confined to a few terraces and houses, or sought 
refuge on the water; but no concealment pre- 
vented our seeing their miserable condition and 
weakness with sufficient clearness. 

"As the evening approached and no sign of 
their surrender appeared, I ordered the two 
pieces of ordnance to be leveled toward the en- 
emy, to try their effect in causing them to 
yield ; but they suffered greater injury when 
full license was given to the allies to attack 
them than from the cannon, although the lat- 
ter did them some mischief. As this was of lit- 
tle avail, I ordered the musketry to be fired. 
When a certain angular space, where they were 
crowded together, was gained, and some of the 
people thrown into the water, those that re- 
mained there yielded themselves prisoners with- 
out a struggle. 

" In the mean time, the brigantines suddenly 
entered that part of the lake, and broke through 
the midst of the fleet of canoes, the warriors 
who were in them not daring to make any re- 
sistance. It pleased God that the captain of a 
brigantine, named Garci Holguin, came up be- 



The Capital Besieged, etc. 279 

Capture of Guatemozin. His behavior. 

liind a canoe in which there seemed to be per- 
sons of distinction ; and when the archers, who 
were stationed in the how of the brigantine, 
took aim at those in the canoe, they made a 
signal that the emperor was there, that the men 
might not discharge their arrows. Instantly our 
people leaped into the canoe, and seized in it 
Guatemozin and the Lord of Tacuba, together 
with other distinguished persons who accompa- 
nied the emperor. 

"Immediately after this occurrence, Garci 
Holguin, the captain, delivered to me, on a ter- 
race adjoining the lake, where I was standing, 
Guatemozin, with other noble prisoners. As I, 
without showing any asperity of manner, bade 
him sit down, he came up to me and said, in his 
own tongue, 

" ' That he had done all that was incumbent 
on him in defense of himself and his people, 
until he was reduced to his present condition ; 
that now I might do with him as I pleased.' 
He then laid his hand on a poniard that I wore, 
telling me to strike him to the heart. 

" I spoke encouragingly to him, and bade 
him have no fears. Thus, the emperor being- 
taken a prisoner, the war ceased at this point, 
which it pleased God our Lord to bring to a 



280 Hernando Cortez. 

Anniversary of the dapture of Mexico. 

conclusion on Tuesday, St. Hippolytus's day, 
the thirteenth of August, 1521 ; so that from 
the day in which the city was first invested, 
the 3d of May in that year, until it was taken, 
seventy-five days had elapsed, during which 
time your majesty will see what labors, dan- 
gers, and calamities your subjects endured, and 
their deeds aiford the best evidence how much 
they exposed their lives." 

For three hundred years, while Mexico re-, 
mained under Spanish rule, the anniversary of 
this victory was regularly celebrated with all 
the accompaniments of national rejoicing. 



The Conquest Consummated. 281 

Discovery of the Pacific. Cortez's elation. 



Chapter X. 
The Conquest Consummated. 

WITH zeal and energy which never slept, 
Cortez fitted out several expeditions to 
explore the country, to study its geography, and 
to ascertain its resources. One party, ascend- 
ing the heights of the Cordilleras, gazed with 
delight upon the placid expanse of the Pacific 
Ocean, and, descending the western declivity, 
planted the cross upon the sandy shores of that 
hitherto unknown sea. Cortez was exceeding- 
ly elated with this discovery, for he considered 
it another bribe with which to purchase the fa- 
vor of his sovereign. He immediately made 
arrangements for establishing a colony on the 
Pacific shores, and ordered four vessels to be 
built to prosecute farther discoveries. He lost 
no time in transmitting to the emperor the tid- 
ings of this great achievement. 

" I have received, most powerful sire," he 
wrote, " some account of another sea to the 
south, and learned that at two or three points 
it was twelve, thirteen, and fourteen days' jour- 



282 Hernando Cortez. 

Cjrtez's dispatch. He sends to take possession of the coast. 

ney from this city. The information gave me 
much pleasure, for it appeared to me that the 
discovery would prove a great and signal serv- 
ice to your majesty, especially as all who pos- 
sess any knowledge or experience in navigation 
to the Indies have considered it certain that 
the discovery of the South Sea in these parts 
would bring to light many islands rich in gold, 
pearls, precious stones, and spiceries, together 
with many other unknown and choice produc- 
tions. The same has been affirmed also by 
persons versed in learning and skilled in the 
science of cosmography. With such views, 
and a desire that 1 might render your majesty 
a distinguished and memorable service in this 
matter, 1 dispatched four Spaniards, two by one 
route and two by another, who, having obtained 
the necessary information as to the course they 
were to take, set out, accompanied by several 
of our allies as guides and companions. I or- 
dered tliem not to stop until they ]iad reached 
the sea, and w4ien they had discovered it, to 
take actual and corporal possession in the name 
of your majesty. 

" One of these parties traveled about one 
hundred and thirty leagues, through many fine 
provinces, without encountering any obstacles, 



The Conquest Consummated. 283 

TLe exploring parties. Release of the captives. 

and arrived at the sea, of which thej took pos- 
session, and, in token thereof, set up crosses 
along the coast. After some days they returned 
with an account of their discovery, and inform- 
ed me very particularly concerning it. They 
brought with them several of the natives from 
that quarter, together with good specimens of 
gold from the mines found in the provinces 
through which they passed, which, with other 
specimens, I now send to your majesty. 

" The other party were absent somewhat 
longer, for they took a different course, and 
traveled one hundred and fifty leagues before 
they reached the sea, of which they also took 
possession, and brought me a full account of 
the coast, with some of the natives of the coun- 
try. I received the strangers in both parties 
graciously, and having informed them of the 
great power of your majesty, and made them 
some presents, I suffered them to depart on their 
return to their own country, and they went 
away much gratified. 

"In my former relation, most catholic sire, 
I informed your majesty that, at the time when 
the Indians defeated me, and first drove us out 
of the city of Tenochtitlan, all the provinces sub- 
ject to that city rebelled against your majesty 



284 Hernando Cortez. 

Rebuilding the cay. Power ol Cortez. 

and made war upon us ; and your majesty will 
see, by this relation, how we have reduced to 
your royal service most of the provinces that 
proved rebellious. 

"As the city," he continues, " of Tenochtitlan 
was a place of great celebrity and distinction, 
and ever memorable, it appeared to me that it 
would be well to build another town upon its 
ruins. I therefore distributed the ground among 
the proposed inhabitants, and appointed alcaldes 
and regidores in the name of your majesty, ac- 
cording to the custom of your realms ; and 
while the houses were going up, we determined 
to abide in the city of Cuyoacan, where we at 
present are. It is now four or five months 
since the rebuilding of the city was commenced, 
and it is already very handsome. Your majes- 
ty may be assured that it will go on increasing 
to such a degree that, as it was formerly the 
capital and mistress of all these provinces, it 
will still be so hereafter. It is built so far and 
will be completed in such a manner as to ren- 
der the Spaniards strong and secure, greatly su- 
perior to tlie natives, and wholly unassailable 
by them." 

The power of Cortez was now unlimited. 
The whole native population were virtually his 



The Conqest Consummated. 285 

Progress of affairs in Spain. 

slaves. He had the address to secure the friend- 
ly co-operation of the principal chiefs, and the 
Indians, in any numbers which he required, 
were driven by them to their reluctant toil. 
The Spaniards assumed the office of overseers, 
while the natives performed all the menial and 
painful labor. Timber was cut and dragged 
by the men of burden from the adjacent for- 
ests, and from the ruins of Tenochtitlan the new 
and beautiful city of Mexico rose as by magic. 

Charles V., King of Spain and Emperor of 
Germany, was overwhelmed by the cares of his 
enormous empire. The scenes transpiring far 
away in the wilderness of the New World, im- 
portant as they were, could claim but a small 
share of his attention. Velasquez succeeded 
in gaining very influential friends at court, and 
plied all his energies, with untiring diligence, to 
secure the disgrace of Cortez. Pride, ambition, 
and revenge alike inspired him to work, if pos- 
sible, the ruin of the bold adventurer who had 
set his power at defiance. The sovereign was 
at this time in Germany, and the reins of gov- 
ernment in Spain were temporarily placed in the 
hands of Adrian, who had been private tutor of 
^he emperor. 

Influenced by the coadjutors of Velasquez, 



286 Heknando Cortez. 

Warrant against Cortez. The commissioner. His reception. 

Adrian issued a warrant, signed at Burgos on 
the 11th of April, 1521, which, after recapitu- 
lating the offenses of which Cortez had been 
guilty against the majesty of the Spanish gov- 
ernment, appointed a commissioner to repair to 
Mexico, seize the person of Cortez, suspend him 
from his functions, sequestrate his property, and 
bring him to trial upon the weighty charges 
contained in the indictment. 

The accomplishment of a task so difficult re- 
quired a man of consummate tact and energy ; 
but, unfortunately, the agent selected was to- 
tally unqualified for his task. Christoval de 
Tapia, the appointed commissioner, was a fee- 
ble, fussy old man, a government inspector of 
metals in Saint Domingo. He landed at Vera 
Cruz in December, with his commission in his 
hand. The authorities there, quite devoted to 
Cortez, and fully aware that in his fall their 
fortunes must also decay, threw every obstacle 
in their power in the path of Tapia. They dis- 
puted his credentials, and, by innumerable em- 
barrassments, prevented him from entering the 
interior. 

Cortez, on the other hand, while cordially ac- 
cepting this important co-operation on the part 
of his friends, the more valuable since it did 



The Conquest Consummated. 287 

Tapia's weak points. His return. Cortez's dispatch. 

not involve him in any responsibility, wrote to 
Tapia a letter full of expressions of courtesy, 
and of veneration for the authority of the em- 
peror. The imbecile old man soon became en- 
tangled in a labyrinth of diplomacy from which 
he knew not how to extricate himself. He had 
not sufficient force of character to cut the tan- 
gled threads. It is said that every one has his 
weak point. Love of money was the great frail- 
ty of Tapia. United with this there was great 
timidity of character. Cortez, with his accus- 
tomed tact, discovered the peculiarities of the 
man, and, with his habitual adroitness, assailed 
him where his armor was weak. The old 
man's fears were assailed with threats, and his 
avarice was approached by bribes, and he very 
soon capitulated. Ee-embarking in his ship, 
he returned to Hispaniola, leaving Cortez in 
undisputed authority. 

This affair alarmed Cortez exceedingly. The 
account which he himself gives of it in his 
dispatch to the emperor is so curious and char- 
acteristic of the man, that we must give it in 
his own words. The dispatch itself will be 
more interesting and valuable than any narra- 
tive we might give of the event. Upon the 
departure of Tapia, Cortez immediately sent 



288 Heetnando Cohtez. 

Cortez's account of the arrival of Tapia. 

deputies to the emperor with a glowing account 
of his new discoveries and conquests, with many 
rich gifts, and the promise of immense future^ 
contributions. He gave, as it were incidental- 
1 J, an account of the mission of Tapia, explain- 
ed with great naivete the reasons of its fail- 
ure, and implored anew that he might be in- 
trusted with the government of the wide realms 
which his skill and the valor of his followers 
had attached to the Spanish crown. ; 

" While engaged in this business," he writes, 
" I received accounts from Yera Cruz of the ar- 
rival at that port of a ship, in which came Chris- 
toval de Tapia, smelting inspector in the island 
of Hispaniola. The next day I had a letter 
from him, informing me that the object of his 
coming to the country was to assume the gov- 
ernment of it by your majesty's command, and 
that he had brought with him his royal com- 
mission, which he should nowhere exhibit until 
he saw us, but hoped this would be soon. As, 
however, the horses he had brought were affect- 
ed by the voyage, he was not able to set out 
immediately, and begged that we would direct 
how the interview should take place, whether 
by his coming here, or by my going to the sea- 
soast. 



The Conquest Consummated. 289 

Cortez unable to visit Tapia. 

" As soon as I had received his letter, I an- 
swered it, saying that I was much pleased with 
his arrival ; that no one could come provided 
with an order from his majesty to assume the 
government of these parts with whom I should 
be better pleased, both on account of the ac- 
quaintance that existed between us, and the 
neighborly intercourse we had enjoyed together 
in the island of Hispaniola. 

"Tranquillity not being firmly established 
in this quarter, and any novelty being likely to 
estrange the natives, I begged Father Urrea, 
who has been present in all my labors, and who 
knew well the situation of affairs to the present 
moment, and by whose coming your majesty's 
service has been promoted, and ourselves bene- 
fited by his spiritual teachings and counsels, 
to undertake tlie task of meeting the said Ta- 
pia, and of examining the orders of your majes- 
ty. Since he knew better than any one what 
the royal interests, as well as those of this 
country, required, I requested that he would 
give such directions to the said Tapia as he 
deemed most proper, from which he knew I 
would not deviate in the least decree. 

o 

"I made this request :n the presence of your 
majesty's treasurer, who joined his solicitations 
T 



290 PIernando Cortez. 

1' athur Urrea dispatched to Vera Cruz. 

to mine. He accordingly departed for the town 
of Vera Cruz, where the said Tapia was; and 
in order that suitable attentions might be paid 
to the inspector, either in the town or w^ierev- 
er they should meet, I dispatched with the fa- 
ther two or three respectable persons from my 
companions, and when they had gone I waited 
the issue. In the mean time, I employed my- 
self in regulating the affairs of my command, 
and in such a way as best to promote your 
majesty's interests, and the peace and security 
of these parts. 

"In ten or twelve days after, the magistrate 
and municipal authority of Yera Cruz wrote me 
that the said Tapia had exhibited the orders of 
your majesty, and of your governors acting in 
the royal name, which they had treated with all 
suitable reverence; but that as to the execu- 
tion of the orders, they had answered that, since 
the most of the government were with me, hav- 
ing been concerned in the siege of the city, they 
should be informed of them, and in the mean 
time they would do whatever the service of 
your majesty and the good of the country re- 
quired. This answer, they added, was received 
by the said Tapia with great displeasure, and 
he had since attempted some scandalous things. 



The Conquest Consummated. 291 

Cortez prepares to go to Vera Cruz, but is dissuaded. 

"Although this answer occasioned me some 
regret, I answered them, and begged and en- 
treated that thej would look chieflj to the serv- 
ice of your majesty, and endeavor to content 
the said Tapia, giving him no occasion for mak- 
ing a disturbance ; and that I was about going 
to meet him, and to comply with whatever your 
majesty commanded, and the most your service 
required. 

"As I was now preparing to depart, the mem- 
bers of the council entreated me, with many 
protestations, not to go, as all this province of 
Mexico, having been but a short time reduced, 
might revolt in my absence, whence much in- 
jury would be done to your majesty's service, 
and great disturbance caused in the country. 
They also urged many other arguments and 
reasons why it was inexpedient for me to leave 
the city at present ; and added that they, with 
the authority of the eouncil, would go to Vera 
Cruz, where the said Tapia resided, examine 
the orders of your majesty, and perform all that 
the royal service demanded. As it seemed so 
essential to our safety that the said councilors 
should go, I wrote by them to Tapia informing 
him of what had passed, and that I had author- 
ized Gonsalvo de Sandoval, Diego de Soto, and 



292 Hernando Cortez. 

Embassadors to Tapia. Delay asked. Departure of Tapia. 

Diego de Valdenebro, who were then in the town 
of Vera Cruz, jointly with the council of Vera 
Cruz and the members of the other town coun- 
cils, to see and perform whatever the service 
of your majesty and the good of the country re- 
quired. 

"When they reached the place v/here the 
said Tapia was, who had already set out on his 
journey to this city, accompanied by Father Pe- 
dro, they requested him to return, and all v/ent 
together to the city of Zempoalla, where Chris- 
toval de, Tapia presented your majesty's orders, 
which all received with the respect due to your 
majesty. In regard to their execution, they 
said that they asked some delay of your maj- 
esty as demanded by the royal interests, for 
causes and reasons contained in their petition, 
and more fully set forth therein. After some 
other acts and proceedings between the inspec- 
tor Tapia and the deputies, he embarked in his 
own ship, as he had been requested to do, since 
from his remaining, and having published that 
he had come as governor and captain of these 
parts, there would have been disturbances. 

" The coming of the said Tapia, and his want 
of knowledge respecting the country and its in- 
habitants, had already excited sedition, and his 



The Conquest Consummated. 293 



Advice respecting Tapia. Reasons for not sending letters by him. 

stay would have led to serious evils if God had 
not interposed to prevent it. Much greater 
service would have been rendered to your maj- 
esty if, while he was in the island of Hispani- 
ola, instead of coming hither, he had first ad- 
vised with your majesty. The said Tapia had 
been often advised by the admiral, judges, and 
other officials of your majesty residing in the 
island of Hispaniola not to come into these 
parts until your majesty had first been inform- 
ed of all that had taken place here, and on this 
account they had prohibited his coming under 
certain penalties, which prohibition, however, 
by means in his power, looking more at his in- 
dividual interest than the service of your maj- 
esty, he had succeeded in getting removed. 

" I have prepared this account of every thing 
in relation to this matter for your majesty, be- 
cause, when the said Tapia departed, neither the 
deputies nor myself drew up any statement, as 
he would not have been a suitable bearer of our 
letters ; and also that your majesty may see and 
believe that, by not receiving the said Tapia, 
your majesty was well served, as will be more 
fully established whenever it shall be neces- 
sary." 

While thus engaged, Cortez received intelli- 



294 Hernando Cortez. 

Insurrection. Punishment. Severe chastisement. 

gence that the province of Panuco was in a 
state of insurrection. As most of his captains 
were absent on various expeditions, he prompt- 
ly placed himself at the head of a force of one 
hundred and thirty horsemen, two hundred and 
fifty infantry, and ten thousand Mexicans, and 
marched to inflict such punishment upon the 
rebels as should intimidate all others from a 
similar attempt. 

The two hostile bodies soon met. Accord- 
ing to the estimate of the Spaniards, the num- 
ber of the enemy amounted to above seventy 
thousand warriors. "But it was God's will," 
the historian records, "that w^e should obtain 
a victory, with such a slaughter of the rebels 
as deprived them of all thought of making any 
head for the present." Cortez ravaged the 
country, mercilessly crushing all who offered 
the slightest resistance. Having thus quench- 
ed in blood the flickering flame of independence, 
he returned victorious to the metropolis. 

Here he was informed that some of the in- 
habitants of the neighboring mountains had 
manifested a restive spirit, and had caused dis- 
turbance in other peaceable districts. Sternly 
he marched to chastise them. The punishment 
was prompt and severe; thousands were, shot 



The Conquest Consummated. 295 



Nuno de Guzman. Influence at c ourt. Charges against Cortez. 

down, and their chiefs were hanged. " They 
were punished," says Diaz, "with fire and 
sword; and greater misfortunes befell them 
when JSTuno de Guzman came to be their gov- 
ernor, for he made them all slaves, and sold 
them in the islands." 

The father of Cortez, who was in Spain, and 
who was a man of much elevation of character, 
now came forward to aid his son with his influ- 
ence at court. Implacable enemies were in^ 
triguing against the bold Spanish adventurer 
in the court of Charles Y., who had returned 
from his long absence in Germany, and was 
now at Madrid. Don Martin Cortez had se- 
cured the co-operation of a powerful nobleman, 
the Duke of Bejar. The young monarch, be- 
wildered by the accusations which were brought 
against Cortez on the one hand, and by the de- 
fense which was urged upon the other, referred 
the whole matter to a commission specially ap- 
pointed to investigate the subject. The charges 
which were brought against him were serious 
and very strongly sustained by evidence. 

1. He had seized rebelliously, and finally de- 
stroyed, the fleet intrusted to him by Governor 
Velasquez, whose authority he was bound to 
obey. 



296 Heknando Cortez. 

Cortez's defense to the charges against him. 

2. He had usurped powers in contempt of 
the autlioritj of his lawful sovereign. 

3. He had made war upon Narvaez, who 
had been sent with full authority to supersede 
him, and had slain many of his companions. 
He had also refused to receive Tapia, though 
he was invested with the authority of the 
crown. 

4. He had cruelly, and in dishonor of the 
Spanish name, put Guatemozin to the torture. 

5. He had remitted but a small part of the 
treasures obtained to the crown, squandering 
vast sums in schemes to promote his own ag- 
grandizement. 

6. His whole system of procedure was one of 
violence, extortion, and cruelty. 

It was urged in defense, 

1. Two thirds of the cost of the expedition, 
nominally fitted out by Velasquez, were de- 
frayed by Cortez. 

2. The interests of the crown required that 
colonies should be established in Mexico. Ve- 
lasquez w^as invested with power to traffic only, 
not to found colonies ; consequently, Cortez, in 
the discharge of his duty, was bound to estab- 
lish colonies, and to send to the crown for the 
ratification of the deed, as he had done. 



The Conquest Consummated. 297 

Defense triumphant. Cortez appointed governor. His powers. 

3. It was the wish of Cortez to meet Narvaez 
amicably ; but that commander, assuming a hos- 
tile attitude, had compelled Cortez to do the 
same. The treatment of Tapia was defended 
as in the dispatch which Cortez had transmit- 
ted to the emperor. 

4. The torture of Guatemozin was declared 
to have been, not the act of Cortez, but of one 
of his officers, who was driven to it by the 
clamors of the soldiers. 

5. It was clearly proved that Cortez had 
transmitted more than one fifth of the treasure 
obtained to the crown. It was also pretty 
conclusively proved that his administration was, 
in general, characterized by far-reaching sagac- 
ity. 

The defense was triumphant. Cortez was 
acquitted, his acts were confirmed, and he was 
appointed governor^ captain-general^ and chief 
justice of the immense empire which he had 
subjugated. The power with which he was in- 
vested was vast — almost unlimited. He was 
authorized to appoint to all offices, civil and 
military. He could also banish from the coun- 
try any persons whose conduct should be dis- 
pleasing to him. A large salary was conferred 
upon him, that he might maintain the splendor 



298 Hernando Coetez. 

Letter from the emperor. Depression of his enemies. 

becoming his rank. His officers were richly re- 
warded. The emperor even condescended to 
write a letter to the little army in Mexico with 
his own hand, applauding the heroism of the 
soldiers and the grandeur of their chieftain. 
This was one of the greatest of the victories of 
Cortez. The depression of his enemies was 
equal to his own elation. Velasquez was 
crushed by the blow. He survived the tidings 
through a few months of gloom, and then sank 
into the grave, the only refuge for those weary 
of the world. 

When the envoys arrived in Mexico with the 
decision of the court, they were received with 
universal rejoicing. Every soldier of Cortez 
felt that his fortune was now made. But their 
intrepid commander was not the man for repose. 
New discoveries were to be urged, new tribes 
subjugated, and far-distant regions explored. 
Murmurs loud and deep soon ascended from the 
disaffected, who now wished to repose from toil 
in the enjoyment of their wealth and honors, 
Here is a specimen of their complaints : 

"I will now relate," says Diaz, "what Cor- 
tez did, which I call very unfair. All those 
who were the dependents of great men, who 
flattered him and told him pleasing things, he 



The Conquest Consummated. 299 

Unfair dealings. Escape from remonstrants. 

loaded with favors. Not tliat I blame him for 
being generous, for there was enough for all ; 
but I say that he ought to have first consider- 
ed those who served his majesty, and whose 
valor and blood made him what he was. But 
it is useless detailing our misfortunes, and how 
he treated us like vassals, and how we were 
obliged to take to our old trade of expeditions 
and battles ; for, though he forgot us in his dis- 
tribution of property, he never failed to call 
upon us when he wanted our assistance. When 
we went to the general with the request that he 
would give us some part of the property which 
his majesty had ordered that we should receive, 
he told us, and swore to it, that he would pro- 
vide for us all, and not do as he had done, for 
which he was very sorry. As if we were to be 
satisfied with promises and smooth words!" 

Cortez had a very effectual way of escaping 
from such remonstrants. He immediately dis- 
patched such men as were troublesome on some 
important expedition, where all their energies 
of mind and body would be engrossed in sur- 
mounting the difficulties which they would be 
called to encounter. A man by the name of 
Hangel, who had some considerable influence, 
was complaining bitterly. Cortez immediately- 



300 Hernando Cortez. 

Expedition to Zapoteca. Great peril. They abandon the scheme. 

decided that the distant province of the Zapote- 
cans was in a threatening attitude, and needed 
looking after. They were a fierce people, dwell- 
ing among almost inaccessible cliffs, where no 
horse could climb and no artillery be dragged. 
From such an enterprise it was little probable 
that the troublesome man would ever return. 
He was consequently honored with the com- 
mand of the expedition. For apparently the 
same reason, Bernal Diaz, whose complaints we 
have just read, was appointed to accompany the 
detachment. 

The forlorn party entered boldly the defiles 
of the mountains, and wading through marshes, 
and struggling through ravines, and clambering 
over rocks, with the utmost difficulty and peril 
penetrated the savage region. The natives, 
nimble as the chamois, leaped from crag to crag, 
whistling an insulting defiance with a peculiar- 
ly shrill note, with which every rock seemed 
vocal. Stones were showered down upon them, 
and immense rocks, torn from their beds, leaped 
crashing over their path. Their peril soon be- 
came great, and it was so evidently impossible 
to accomplish any important result, that they 
abandoned the expedition, nearly all wounded, 
and many having been killed. 



The Conquest Consummated. 301 

Progress of ttio r.ew citj". Cortez's palace. Religious zeal. 

During the period of four years Cortez de- 
voted himself with untiring zeal to the promo- 
tion of the interests of the colony. The new 
city of Mexico rose rapidly, with widened streets 
and with many buildings of much architectural 
beauty. Where the massive temple once stood, 
dedicated to the war-god of the Aztecs, and 
whose altars were ever polluted with human 
sacrifices, a majestic temple was reared for the 
worship of the true God. Cortez erected for 
himself a gorgeous palace fronting on the great 
square. It was built of hewn stone. All the 
houses constructed for the Spaniards were mass- 
ive stone buildings, so built as to answer the 
double purpose of dwellings and fortresses. 

The zeal of Cortez for the conversion of the 
natives continued unabated. In addition to the 
spacious cathedral, where the imposing rites of 
the Catholic Church were invested Avith all con- 
ceivable splendor, thirty other churches w^ere 
provided for the natives, who had now become 
exceedingly pliant to the wishes of the con- 
queror. Father 01m edo v/atched over the in- 
terests of religion with great purity of purpose 
and with unwearied devotion until his death. 
Twelve Catholic priests were sent from Spain. 
Benighted as they were in that dark age, the 



302 Hernando Gortez. 

Catholic priests. Approach to the metropolis. Ileception by Cortez. 

piety of many of these men can hardly be ques- 
tioned. Cortez received them with great dis- 
tinction. Immediately upon being informed of 
their arrival at Vera Cniz, he ordered the road 
to Mexico to be put in order, to render their 
journey easy, and houses to be furnished, at 
proper distances, with refreshments for their ac- 
commodation. The inhabitants of all the towns 
along their route were ordered to meet them 
with processions and music, and all demonstra- 
tions of reverence and joy. As they approach- 
ed the metropolis, Cortez, at the head of a brill- 
iant cavalcade, which was followed by a vast 
procession bearing crucifixes and lighted tapers, 
set out to receive them. The Catholic mis- 
sionaries appeared with bare feet and in the 
most humble garb. Cortez dismounted, and, 
advancing to the principal father of the frater- 
nity, bent one knee to the ground in token of 
reverence, and kissed his coarse and thread- 
bare robe. The natives gazed with amazement 
upon this act of humiliation on the part of their 
haughty conqueror, and ever after regarded the 
priests with almost religious adoration. 

When conversion consists in merely inducing 
men to conform to some external ceremony, 
while the heart remains unchanged, it is easily 



The Conquest Consummated. 303 

Success of the missionaries. Colonies. Arrival of Donna Catalina, 

accomplished. The missionaries, with great 
zeal, embarked in the enterprise of establishing 
the Catholic religion in every village of the 
subjugated empire. They were eminently suc- 
cessful, and in a few years almost every ves- 
tige of the ancient idolatry had disappeared 
from Mexico. 

Cortez did every thing in his power to induce 
the natives to return to the capital. He intro- 
duced the mechanic arts of Europe, and all the 
industrial implements of that higher civiliza- 
tion. The streets were soon again thronged 
with a busy population, and the Indian and the 
Spaniard, oblivious of past scenes of deadly 
strife, mingled together promiscuously in peace- 
ful and picturesque confusion. 

Many colonies were established in different 
parts of the country, and settlers were invited 
over from Old Spain by liberal grants of land, 
and by many municipal privileges. 

In the midst of these important transactions, 
while Cortez was living quietly with the ami- 
able Marina, who had borne him a son, a ship 
arrived at Vera Cruz bringing Donna Catalina, 
the wife of the wayward adventurer. This 
lady, accompanied by her brother, weary of the 
solitude of her plantation, where she had now 



304 Hernando Coetez. 

D^iiLh of Catalina. Suspicions of murder. 

been left for many years, came in search of her 
unfaithful spouse. Cortez made great preten- 
sions to religion. It was his crowning glory 
that he was the defender of the faith. It would 
have been altogether too great a scandal to have 
repudiated his faithful wife. 

*' Cortez," says Bernal Diaz, " was very sor- 
ry for their coming, but he put the best face 
upon it, and received them with great pomp and 
rejoicing." In three months from this time the 
unhappy Donna Catalina died of an asthma. 
Her death was so evidently a relief to Cortez, 
and so manifestly in accordance with his wish- 
es, that many suspicions were excited that she 
had fallen by the hand of violence. Though 
Cortez had many enemies to accuse him of the 
murder of his wife, there is no evidence what- 
ever that he was guilty. Cortez had many and 
great faults, but a crime of this nature seems 
to be quite foreign to his character. The ver- 
dict of history in reference to this charge has 
been very cordially Not proven. 



Expedition to Hondueas. 305 



The natives reduced to slavery. 



Chaptee XL 
The Expedition to Hondueas. 
^THHE great object of the Spanish adventurers 
-^ was to extort gold from the natives. The 
proud cavaliers would not work, and the na- 
tives were not willing to surrender the fruits of 
their toil to support their haughtj conquerors 
in splendor. Cortez consequently, though re- 
luctantly, doomed them to slavery. They were 
driven by the lash to unpaid toil. It was an 
outrage defended only by the despotic assump- 
tions of avarice. The Tlascalans, however, in 
acknowledgment of their services as allies of 
the Spaniards, were exempt from this degrada- 
tion. In all other parts the wretched natives 
toiled under their task-masters, in the fields and 
in the mines, urged by the sole stimulus of the 
lash. The country thus became impoverished 
and beggared, and masters and slaves sank to- 
gether. 

Cortez had now reduced, in subjection to the 
crown of Spain, an extent of country reaching 
along the Atlantic coast twelve hundred miles, 
U 



306 Heenando Coetez. 

Laws and institutions. Colony at Honduras. 

and extending fifteen hundred miles on the Pa- 
cific shore. With energetic genius which has 
rarely been surpassed, the conqueror estabhsh- 
ed laws and institutions, many of them emi- 
nently wise, for this vast realm. 

Cortez had sent one of his captains, Chris^ 
tovalde Olid, to Honduras, to found a Spanish 
colony there. This intrepid man, giddy with 
the possession of vast power, and encouraged 
by the success with which Cortez had thrown 
off his dependence upon Velasquez, determined 
to imitate his example, and assert independence 
of all authority save that of the Spanish crown. 
But Cortez was the last man to allow Ms au- 
thority to be thus trifled with. He immedi- 
ately sent an expedition under Francisco Las 
Casas, with five ships and a hundred veteran 
Spanish soldiers, to arrest the disobedient offi- 
cer. With pennants flying. Las Casas sailed 
from Yera Cruz, and was rapidly borne by pros- 
perous gales around the immense promontory 
of Yucatan, a voyage of nearly two thousand 
miles, to the bay in Honduras named the Tri- 
umph of the Cross, where Olid had established 
his post. Olid opposed his landing, but, as 
many of his soldiers chanced to be absent in 
the interior, he could present no effectual re- 
sistance. 



Expedition to Honduras. 307 

Olid wrecked and taken prisoner. Cortez starts for Honduras. 

After a short battle, Olid, lioping for the 
speedy return of his absent forces, applied for 
a truce. Las Casas weaklj consented ; but 
that same night a tempest arose which wrecked 
all his ships, and thirty of the crew perished in 
the waves. Las Casas and all of the remain- 
der of his party, drenched and exhausted, were 
taken prisoners. Olid exulted greatly in this 
unanticipated good fortune ; and, considering 
his foe utterly powerless, released the men upon 
their taking the oath of allegiance to him, and 
retained Las Casas surrounded with the cour- 
tesies of friendly and hospitable captivity. Aft- 
er a time, however, Las Casas succeeded in 
forming a conspiracy, and Olid was seized and 
beheaded. 

Cortez had heard of the wreck of the ships. 
'No other tidings reached him. But disaster 
ever added strength to his energies. Vigorous- 
ly he fitted out another expedition, and headed 
it himself. Leaving a strong garrison to guard 
the city of Mexico, and appointing two confi- 
dential officers to act as deputies during his ab- 
sence, he prepared to march across the coun- 
try, a perilous journey of five hundred leagues, 
through a wilderness of mountains, rivers, lakes, 
and forests. Unknown and doubtless hostile 



308 Heenando Coetez. 

Diaz's account. The two captives. 

tribes peopled the whole region. It was one 
of the boldest of the many bold adventures of 
this extraordinary man. He has given a mi- 
nute narrative of the march in a dispatch to 
Charles V. Bernal Diaz also, who accompanied 
the expedition, has given an interesting yet 
gossiping recital of all its wild adventures. 

It was on the 12th of October, 1524, that 
Cortez commenced his march almost due south 
from the city of Mexico. His force consisted, 
when he started from Mexico, of about one 
hundred Spanish horsemen and fifty infantry, 
together with about three thousand Mexican 
soldiers. Apprehending that Guatemozin and 
the cacique of Tacuba, from their strong influ- 
ence over the natives, might excite disturbance 
during his absence, he took them as captives 
with him. Several Catholic priests were taken 
to conduct the services of religion, and to con- 
vert the heathen tribes. The imperial retinue, 
for Cortez now moved with the pomp of an em- 
peror, was conducted on the grandest scale the 
time and the occasion would admit. A large 
herd of swine followed the army a day's jour- 
ney in the rear. Most of the food, however, 
was to be collected by the way. 

By the aid of a rude map and Indian guides, 



Expedition to Honduras. 309 

Difficulties to be encountered. Marina married to Xamarillo. 

Cortez designed to direct Lis steps across tlie 
neck of the broad peninsula of Yucatan to the 
head of the Bay of Honduras. For many days 
their path conducted along a low and marshy 
country intersected by innumerable streams. 
Some they were able to ford ; over others their 
ingenious architects would speedily throw a 
bridge. Occasionally they would arrive upon 
the banks of a stream so wide and deep that 
many days would be employed in rearing a 
structure over which they could pass. Cortez, 
in his letter to Charles Y., enumerating the dif- 
ficulties encountered, states that in a distance 
of one hundred miles he found it necessary to 
construct no less than fifty bridges. 

The amiable Marina accompanied Cortez on 
this expedition, since her services were very es- 
sential as interpreter. But Cortez now, having 
buried his lawful wife, and probably looking 
forward to some more illustrious Spanish alli- 
ance which might strengthen his influence at 
court, regarded Marina as an embarrassment. 
He therefore secured her marriage with a Cas- 
tilian knight, Don Juan Xamarillo. A hand- 
some estate was assigned to the newly-married 
couple in the native province of Marina, through 
which the expedition passed on its way to Hon- 



310 Hernando Cortez. 

Don Martin Cortez. Demonstrations of homage. 

duras. We hear of Marina no more. Her son, 
Don Martin Cortez, aided by the patronage of 
his powerful father, became one of the most 
prominent of the grandees of his native land. 
He filled many posts of opulence and honor. 
At last he was suspected of treason against the 
home government, and was shamefully put to 
the torture in the Mexican capital. 

As Cortez and his army advanced day after 
day through provinces where his renown was 
known, and where Spanish adventurers were 
established, he was received with every possi- 
ble demonstration of homage. Triumphal arch- 
es crossed his path. Processions advanced to 
greet him. Provisions were brought to him in 
abundance. Bonfires, w4th their brilliant blaze, 
cheered the night, and festivities, arranged with 
all the possible accompaniments of barbaric 
pomp, amused him by day. He arrived at the 
banks of a wide, deep, and rapid river. To his 
great gratification, he found that the natives had 
collected three hundred canoes, fastened two and 
two, to ferry his army across. At this place 
Bernal Diaz joined the expedition. Weary of 
the hardships of war, he complains bitterly that 
he was compelled again to undergo the fatigues 
of an arduous campaign. 



Expedition to Honduras. 311 

Complaints of Diaz. Scarcity of provisions. 

" The general ordered," he says, "all the set- 
tlers of Guacacualco who were fit for service to 
join his expedition. I have already mention- 
ed how this colony was formed out of the most 
respectable hidalgos and ancient conquerors of 
the country, and now that we had reason to 
expect to be left in quiet possession of our hard- 
earned properties, our houses and farms, we 
were obliged to undertake a hostile expedition 
to the distance of fifteen hundred miles, and 
which took up the time of two and a half years ; 
but we dared not say no, neither would it avail 
us. We therefore armed ourselves, and, mount- 
ing our horses, joined the expedition, making, 
in the whole, above two hundred and fifty vet- 
erans, of whom one hundred and thirty were 
cavalry, besides many Spaniards newly arrived 
from Europe." 

But as they marched resolutely along, week 
after week, over mountains, through morasses, 
and across rivers, the country became more wild 
and savage, the natives more shy, and provis- 
ions less abundant. Several days were often 
occupied in constructing a bridge to cross a riv- 
er* Scouts were sent out upon either wing of 
the army foraging for food. The natives fled 
often from their villages, carrying their food 



312 Hernando Cortez. 

Energy and forethought. Construction of canoes. 

with them. Famine began to stare them in 
the face. Sickness diminished the ranks, and 
emaciate men, haggard and way-worn, tottered 
painfully along the rugged ways. 

But the indefatigable energy and wonderful 
foresight of Cortez saved the army. He seem- 
ed to have provided for every emergency which 
mortal sagacity could anticipate. One day the 
starving army, almost in despair, came to the 
banks of a large river. The broad current roll- 
ed many leagues through a pathless wilderness, 
and emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. The 
army, to its great surprise, found fifty large ca- 
noes in a little sheltered bay, laden with pro- 
visions, and awaiting its arrival. The river 
was the Tabasco. At its mouth there was an 
important Spanish colony. Cortez had fore- 
seen the want at that point, and provided the 
timely supply. 

After resting here for a few days to recruit, 
the army continued its march, and soon came 
to a river so wide and deep that they could not 
bridge it. Here they remained four days, 
while every skillful hand was employed con- 
structing canoes. It then required four days 
more for the immense host to be paddled across 
in these frail barks. The horses swam after the 



Expedition to Hondukas. 313 

The slough. Foraging parties. 

boats, led by halters. Upon the other side of 
the river they entered upon a vast swamp, ex- 
tending for many leagues, and tangled by the 
dense growth of the tropics. They were three 
days floundering through this dismal slough, 
the horses being most of the time up to their 
girths in the morass. 

From this gloomy region of reptiles, torment- 
ing insects, and mire, they emerged upon a fer- 
tile country, where they found an abundance 
of Indian corn or maize. But the terrified in- 
habitants fled at their approach. Foraging par- 
ties were, however, sent out to plunder the vil- 
lages of their stores. They did this efficiently, 
and the encampment was again filled with plen- 
ty. After a halt of tlu'ee days, the soldiers, 
having replenished their knapsacks with parch- 
ed corn, again took up their line of march. 
Each man carried food for three days. Some 
of the native chiefs, who had been enticed into 
the camp, deceived them with the assurance 
that in three days they would arrive at a large 
city, where they would find every needful sup- 
ply. They soon reached the banks of a broad 
river, deep and rapid. It required three days 
to construct a bridge to cross it. The knap- 
sacks were now empty. They were hungry 



314 Heenando Coetez. 

Tile tangled wilderness. The Indian path. 

and faint, and there was no food to be obtain- 
ed. Painfully the famishing men toiled along 
another day, eating the leaves of the trees, and 
digging up roots for food. Some poisonous 
quality in this innutritions diet parched their 
lips and blistered their tongues. To add to 
their despair, there was no longer any path, and 
the dense underbrush, with tough vines and 
sharp thorns, impeded their march and lacerated 
their flesh. The trees towered above them 
with foliage impenetrable by the rays of the 
sun. They were wandering through a dark 
and dismal wilderness, from which there was 
no apparent outlet, compelled with sword and 
hatchet to cut every step of their way through 
tangled shrubs. 

Cortez, guided only by the compass and a 
rude Indian map, now manifested for the first 
time deep concern. He could not conceal from 
his companions the anxiety which oppressed 
him, for his army was literally starving. He 
was overheard to say, " If we are left to strug- 
gle another day through this wilderness, I know 
not what will become of us." 

Suddenly, to their great joy, they came upon 
an Indian path. This soon conducted them to 
a village. The inhabitants had fled, but the 



Expedition to Hondueas. 315 

The cannibal chiefs. Their punishment, Hostile attitude. 

Spaniards found some granaries well supplied 
with corn. During this terrible march of sev- 
en days, many perished by fatigue and hunger. 
It was also discovered that some of the Mexi- 
can chiefs, in their extremity, had seized some 
of the natives whom they encountered, and had 
killed and eaten them. The bodies were baked, 
in accordance with their cannibal customs, in 
ovens of heated stones under the ground. 

" Cortez," says Bernal Diaz, " severely rep- 
rehended all those concerned, and one of the 
reverend father Franciscans preached a holy and 
wise sermon on the occasion ; after which, by 
way of example, the general caused one to be 
burned. Though all were equally guilty, yet, 
in the present circumstances, one example was 
judged sufficient." 

After a few days' rest the army again re- 
sumed its march, but pioneers were sent in 
advance to mark out the way. Their course 
now lay for many leagues through a low coun- 
try, abounding in lakes, and miasmatic marsh- 
es, and sluggish rivers. The bayous and la- 
goons were so numerous that most of the com- 
munication from city to city was by canoes. 
The people at first assumed a hostile attitude, 
but soon, overawed by the magnitude of the 



316 Hernando Coetez. 

The soldiers ravenous. Influence of the priests, 

force of Cortez, thej with great obsequious- 
ness furnished liim with all required supplies. 
Still, it was an exceedingly difficult region for 
the army to traverse. Many days were labori- 
ously employed in bridging the innumerable 
streams. One wide one delayed them four 
days, and their provisions were entirely ex- 
hausted. Diaz, a man of tact and energy, was 
sent with a strong party to forage for the fam- 
ished camp. He returned in the night with a 
hundred and thirty men of burden heavily laden 
with corn and fruit. The starving soldiers, 
watching their return, rushed upon them like 
wolves ; in a few moments, every particle of 
food which they had brought was devoured. 
Cortez and his officers came eagerly from their 
tents, but there was nothing left for them. 

But even in this strait, when the soldiers for- 
got entirely their generals, and even refused to 
save any for them, they did not forget their spir- 
itual guides. Every soldier was anxious to 
share his portion with the reverend fathers. It 
speaks well for these holy men that they had 
secured such a hold upon the affisctions of these 
wild adventurers. Though superstition doubt- 
less had its influence, there must also have 
been, on the part of the priests, much self-deni- 



Expedition to Honduras. 317 



Care for the officers. Plot against two chiefs. 

al and devotion to their duties. Diaz, appre- 
hensive of the scene of plunder, had concealed 
at a short distance in the rear a few loads for 
the officers, which, he says, thej went and got, 
with great gratitude, when the soldiers were all 
asleep. 

For eight weary days the army now toiled 
along, struggling against hardships and hunger. 
Many were sick, many died, and not a few, in 
despair, deserted their ranks, and endeavored to 
find their way back to Mexico. Cortez, know- 
ing full well the heroism of his two captives, 
Guatemozin and the cacique of Tacuba, was 
now very apprehensive that they might take 
advantage of his weakness, incite the natives 
to revolt, and thus secure his destruction. The 
peril was so obvious that it must have occurred 
to every mind. The Mexicans knew that the 
Spaniards were now in their power, and the 
Spaniards could not deny it. 

Under these circumstances, Guatemozin was 
accused of having entered into a plot to assas- 
sinate the Spaniards, and then to return to 
Mexico and rouse the whole native population 
to arms, and drive the invaders from the coun- 
try. There seems to have been but little proof 
to substantiate the charge ; but the undeniable 



318 HEliNANDO COETEZ. 

The chiefs executed. Their heroism. 

fact that Guatemozin couid no^y do this, ex- 
cited to the highest degree the anxiety of the 
ever-waiy Cortez. The stern conqueror, act- 
ing upon the principle that the end justifies the 
means, resolved to escape from this peril by the 
death of his imperial captive and the Tacuban 
lord. Cortez accused them of the crime, and, 
notwithstanding their protestations of inno- 
cence, ordered them both to be hung. A scaf- 
fold was immediately erected, and the victims, 
attended by priests, were led out to their exe- 
cution. Both of these heroic men met their 
fate with dignity. As the monarch stood upon 
the scaffold, at the moment of his doom he 
turned to Cortez and said, 

"I now find in what your false promises 
have ended. It would have been better that I 
had fallen by my own hands than to have in- 
trusted myself in your power. Why do you 
thus unjustly take my life ? May God demand 
of you this innocent blood." 

The Prince of Tacuba simply said, "I am 
happy to die by the side of my lawful sover- 
eign." 

They were then both swung into the air, sus- 
pended from the branches of a lofty tree by the 
road-side. There are many stains i*esting upon 



Expedition to Honduras. 319 

Opinions of the Spaniards. Night wanderings. 

the character of Cortez, and this is not among 
the least. Diaz records, " Thus ended the hves 
of these two great men ; and I also declare 
that they suffered tlieir deaths most undeserv- 
ingly ; and so it appeared to us all, among 
whom there was but one opinion upon the sub- 
ject, that it was a most unjust and cruel sen- 
tence." 

The marcli was now continued, but the gloom 
which ever accompanies crime Aveighed heavily 
upon all minds. The Mexicans were indignant 
and morose at the ignominious execution of 
their chiefs. The Spaniards were in constant 
fear that they would rise against them. Even 
Cortez looked haggard and wretched, and his 
companions thought that he was tortured by 
the self-accusation that he was a murderer. 
Difficulties Avere multiplied in his path. Fam- 
ine stared his murmuring army in the face. 
Sleep forsook his pillow. One night, bewil- 
dered and distracted, he rose, and wandering in 
one of the heathen temples, fell over a wall, a 
distance of twelve feet, bruising himself se- 
verely, and cutting a deep gash in his head. 
Still they toiled along, occasionally coming to 
towns where there were granaries and abund- 
ance, and again, in a few days, as they could 



320 Hernando Cortez. 

Plenty and want. The terrible march. 

carry but few provisions with them, finding 
themselves in a starving condition. Every va- 
riety of suffering seemed to he allotted them. 
At one time they arrived upon a vast plain, 
spreading out for leagues, as far as the eye 
could extend, without a bush or shrub to inter- 
cept the sight. A tropical sun blazed down 
upon the panting troops with blistering heat. 
Many deer, quite tame, ranged these immense 
prairies. At another time they approached a 
large lake of shallow water, and upon an island 
in its centre found a populous town. The sol- 
diers waded to the island through the clear wa- 
ters of the lake. They found fishes very abund- 
ant, and again had a plentiful supply of food. 

Thus far the weather had been fair ; but now 
it changed, and a season of drenching rains com- 
menced. Still, the band, impelled by their in- 
domitable leader, pressed on. They now en- 
tered upon a very extraordinary region, where 
for leagues they toiled through dismal ravines, 
frowned upon by barren and craggy rocks. The 
ground was covered with innumerable flint- 
stones, peculiarly hard and sharp, which, like 
knives, pierced the feet of tlie men and the 
horses. In this frightful march nearly every 
horse was wounded and lamed, and eight per- 



Expedition to Honduras 321 

New embarrassments. Famine. 

ished. Many of the men also suffered severe- 
ly. The difficulty and suffering were so great, 
that upon emerging from this rocky desert the 
army was assembled to return solemn thanks 
to God for their escape. 

But now they encountered new embarrass- 
ments. The streams, swollen by the rains, 
came roaring in impetuous torrents from the 
mountains, and the intervales and the wide- 
spreading meadows were flooded. One stream, 
foaming through enormous precipices, emitted 
a roar which was heard at the distance of six 
miles. It required three days to throw a bridge 
across this raging mountain torrent. The na- 
tives took advantage of this delay to flee from 
their homes, carrying with them all their pro- 
visions. Again famine threatened the camp. 
This was, perhaps, the darkest hour of the 
march. The horses were lame. The men were 
bleeding, and wayworn, and gaunt. Death by 
starvation seemed inevitable. *'I own," says 
Diaz, " I never in my life felt my heart so de- 
pressed as when I found nothing to be had for 
myself or my people." 

Cortez, however, sent out some very efficient 
foraging parties in all directions. Impelled by 
the energies of despair, the detachment succeed- 
X 



322 Heenando Cortez. 

They reach Taica. Humility of Diaz. 

ed in obtaining food. This strengthened them 
until they reached a large town called Taica, 
where they again rejoiced in abundance. The 
rain still continued to fall in torrents, and the 
soldiers, drenched by night and by day, toiled 
along through the mire. Even Cortez lost his 
habitual placidity of temper and began to com- 
plain. The vain and gossiping Diaz would not 
have his readers unmindful of the eminent serv- 
ices he rendered in these emergencies. With 
much affected humility he narrates his exploits. 

" Cortez," says he, " returned me thanks for 
my conduct. But I will drop this subject ; 
for what is praise but emptiness and unprofit- 
ableness, and what advantage is it to me that 
people in Mexico should tell me what we en- 
dured, or that Cortez should say, when he want- 
ed me to go on this last expedition, that, next 
to God, it was me on whom he placed his re- 
liance?" 

They now arrived upon the banks of a river 
which led to the sea-coast. At the mouth of 
this river Olid had established one of his im- 
portant settlements. A march of four days was 
required to reach the coast. Cortez, who was 
entirely ignorant of the death of Olid, and of 
the Overthrow of his powder, sent forward scouts 



Expedition to Hondueas. 323 



Cortez finds there is no insurrection to be quelled. 



to ascertain the state of things, as it was his in- 
tention to fall upon Olid by surprise at night. 
The army moved slowly down the stream, feed- 
ing miserably upon nuts and roots. The scouts 
returned with the intelligence that there were 
no enemies to be met ; that the insurrection 
was entirely quelled, and the colony, consisting 
of several scattered settlements, was in perfect 
subjection to the authority of Cortez. It is 
difficult to imagine the feelings with which this 
intelligence was received. Cortez must have 
felt, at least for a fcAV moments, exceedingly 
foolish. The Herculean enterprise of a march 
of eighteen hundred miles through a pathless 
wilderness, peopled with savage foes, where 
many hundreds of his army had perished from 
fatigue and famine, and all had endured incon- 
ceivable hardships, had been utterly fruitless. 
It had been what is sometimes called a wild- 
goose chase, upon a scale of grandeur rarely 
paralleled. 

They soon arrived at a half-starved colony at 
the mouth of the river, consisting of forty men 
and six women. The energies of Cortez were, 
however, unabated. Foraging parties were sent 
out to plunder the natives, which was done pit- 
ilessly, without any apparent compunctions of 



324 Hernando Cortez. 

Exploring tour. The brigantines. SubmissiciJ. 

conscience, as the hunters of wild honey destroy 
the "bees and rob the hives. Cortez himself set 
out with a strong party on an exploring tour, 
and returned after an absence of twenty-six 
days, sorely wounded in the face from a conflict 
which he had with the natives. If the natives 
assumed any attitude of resistance, they were 
shot like panthers and bears. 

Here Cortez built two brigantines, and sail- 
ed along the coast some three hundred miles to 
Truxillo. He established on the way, at Port 
Cavallo, a colony, to which place he ordered a 
division of his army to march. Others of the 
troops were to assemble at Naco, quite an im- 
portant town, where Olid had been executed. 
Cortez, upon his arrival at Truxillo, which was 
the principal establishment of the colony in 
Honduras, was received by the colonists with 
great distinction. The Indians in the neigh- 
borhood were immediately assembled, and were 
urged to acknowledge submission to the King 
of Spain, and to adopt the Christian religion. 
With wonderful pliancy, they acceded to both 
propositions. " The reverend fathers," says 
Diaz, " also preached to the Indians many holy 
things very edifying to hear." From this place 
Cortez sent a dispatch to the King of Spain, 



Expedition to Honduras. 325 

Present to the king. Disappointment of Cortez. The dispatches. 

and also a^^aluable present of gold, "taken," 
sajs Diaz, " in reality from liis sideboard, but 
in such a manner that it should appear to be 
the produce of this settlement." 

Cortez, to his extreme disappointment, found 
the country poor. There was no gold, and but 
little food. Worn down by anxiety and fatigue, 
he was emaciated in the extreme, and was so 
exceedingly feeble that his friends despaired of 
his life. Indeed, to Cortez, death seemed so 
near, that, with forethought characteristic of 
this enthusiast, he had made preparations for 
his burial. 

One day, as Cortez, in the deepest dejection, 
was conversing with his friends, a vessel was 
discerned in the distant horizon of the sea. The 
ship had sailed from Havana, and brought to 
Cortez dispatches from Mexico. He retired to 
his apartment to read them. As he intently 
perused the documents, his friends in the ante- 
chamber heard him groan aloud in anguish. 
The tidings were indeed appalling, and suffi- 
cient to crush even the spirit of Cortez. For 
a whole day his distress was so great that he 
did not leave his room. The next morning he 
called for an ecclesiastic, confessed his sins, and 
ordered a mass. He then, somewhat calmed 



326 Heenando Cortez. 

Bad ROWS. neports of the death of Cortez. Troubles in Spam. 

hj devotion, read to Lis friends the intelligence 
he had received. 

It was reported in Mexico that the whole 
party which had entered upon the expedition to 
Honduras had perished. Consequently, all the 
property of the adventurers had been sold at 
public auction. The funeral service of Cortez 
had been celebrated with great pomp, a large 
part of his immense property having been de- 
voted to defray the expenses. The deputies 
whom Cortez had left in charge of the govern- 
ment had quarreled among themselves, and two 
strong parties rising up, the colony had been 
distracted by civil war and bloodshed. Every 
day there was fighting. The natives, encour- 
aged by these disorders, had revolted in three 
provinces. A force Avhich had been sent to 
quell the insun-ection had been attacked and de- 
feated. 

The same dispatches also contained a letter 
from the father of Cortez, informing him that 
his enemies were busy, and successful in their 
intrigues in the court at Madrid, and that two 
very important colonies in Mexico had been* 
wrested from his command, and placed, by or- 
der of the king, under the government of others. 

Cortez decided to return immediately, but 



Expedition to Hondueas. 327 

The attempted voyage. Fruitless endeavors to recall his friends, 

privately, to Mexico. His enemies, wlio had 
usurped the government, had given out that he 
was dead. Cortez was apprehensive that, were 
liis return anticipated, he would be waylaid and 
assassinated. ' He therefore made arrangements 
for his friends to return by land, while he pri- 
vately embarked for Yera Cruz. A violent 
storm arose, with head winds, and the vessel, 
after struggling a few days against the gale, 
was compelled, with shattered rigging, to re- 
turn to Truxillo. Again, after a few days, the 
vessel weighed anchor, and again it was com- 
pelled to return. Cortez now, in extreme de- 
bility of body and dejection of mind, was ex- 
ceedingly perplexed respecting his duty. "He 
ordered a solemn mass," says Diaz, " and pray- 
ed fervently to the Holy Ghost to enlighten him 
as to his future proceedings." 

He now decided to remain in Truxillo, and 
to unite Honduras and Nicaragua into a colony 
which, in extent and resources, would be wor- 
thy of him. He dispatched messengers with 
all speed to overtake his friends, who had un- 
dertaken to return by land, and recall them to 
Truxillo. They, however, refused to return. 
Again another messenger was dispatched to 
them by Cortez, with still more urgent entreat- 



328 Hernando Cortez. 

Commissions. The usurpers imprisoned. 

ies. To this thej replied by a letter, stating 
very iirmly that they had suffered misfortunes 
enough already in following him, and that they 
were determined to go back to Mexico. San- 
doval, with a small retinue on horseback, took 
this answer to Cortez. He was also commis- 
sioned to do every thing in his power to per- 
suade Cortez also to embark again for Mexico. 
Though thus forsaken, he still refused to 
leave Honduras. Weakened by bodily sick- 
ness, which plunged him into the deepest mel- 
ancholy, his usual energies were dormant. He, 
however, sent a confidential servant, named 
Orantes, with a commission to Generals Alvara- 
do and Las Casas, who had returned from Hon- 
duras to Mexico, to take charge of the govern- 
ment and punish the usurpeis. Orantes per- 
formed his mission successfully. The people, 
hearing with joy that Cortez was safe, rallied 
around the newly-appointed deputies, and the 
prominent usurpers were seized and imprisoned 
in a timber cage. Cortez remained in Hondu- 
ras until he received intelligence that the dis- 
turbances in Mexico were quelled. He now 
decided to leave the government of Honduras 
in the hands of a lieutenant, and to return to 
Mexico. His health, however, was so very 



Expedition to Hondueas. 329 

Poor health of Cortez. His return to Mexico. 

feeble that lio liardlj expected to survive the 
voyage. He therefore, before embarking, con- 
fessed his sins, partook of the sacrament, and 
settled all his worldly affairs. 

It was on the 25th of April, 1526, that the 
pale and emaciate adventurer, accompanied by 
a few followers, embarked on board a brigantine 
in the anchorage at Truxillo. The morning; 
was serene and cloudless, and a fresh breeze 
filled the unfurled sails. Rapidly the low line 
of the shores of Honduras sank below the hori- 
zon, and Cortez bade them adieu forever. 



330 Hernando Coetez. 



The party are obliged to put into Havana for repairs. 



Chapter XII. 
The Last Days of Cortez. 

FOE, a few days a fair wind bore the voy- 
agers rapidly forward over a sunny sea. 
They had arrived nearly within sight of th€ 
Mexican shore, when clouds blackened the sky, 
and a tropical tempest came howling fiercely 
upon them. The light brigantine was driven 
before the gale like a bubble, and, after being 
tossed for several days upon the angry deep, 
the voyagers found themselves near the island 
of Cuba, and were compelled to enter the har- 
bor of Havana for repairs and supplies. 

It was not until the 16th of May that they 
were enabled again to set sail. After a voyage 
of eight days, Cortez landed near St. Juan de 
Ulua. Here he assumed an incognito, and pro- 
ceeded on foot fifteen miles to Medellin. His 
aspect was so changed by sickness and dejec- 
tion that no one recognized him. Here he made 
himself known, and was immediately received 
with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of 
joy. He now pressed forward to the capital in 



The Last Days of Cortez. 331 

Triumphal march to the capital. Reception at Tezcaco. 

truly a triumphal march. The whole country 
was aroused, and processions, triumphal arches, 
bonfires, and music, with the ringing of bells 
and the roaring of cannon, greeted him all the 
way. The natives vied with the Spaniards in 
the cordiality of their welcome and in the splen- 
dor of their pageants. 

Arrangements were made to receive him at 
the capital with a triumphant fete. He arrived 
at Tezcuco, on the borders of the lake, in the 
evening, and there passed the night. It was 
now the lovely month of June. The sun the 
next morning rose cloudless, and smiled upon 
a scene of marvelous beauty, embellished by all 
the attractions of hills, and valleys, and placid 
waters. The lake was alive with the decorated 
boats of the natives, and the air was filled with 
the hum of peace and joy. Smiles again flitted 
over the wan and pallid cheeks of Cortez as tlie 
shouts of the multitude, blending with the clari- 
on peals of the trumpet, the chime of bells, and 
the thunders of artillery fell upon his ear. He 
immediately repaired to the church publicly to 
return thanks to God for all his mercies. He 
then retired to his magnificent palace, and again 
assumed the responsibilities of government. 

The enemies of Cortez were still indefatiga- 



332 Heenando Coetez. 

Enemies at work. Serious charges. Tlie commissioners, 

ble in the court of Charles V., and they so mul- 
tiplied and reiterated their charges that the em- 
peror deemed it expedient to order an investi- 
gation. He was charged with withholding gold 
which belonged to the crown, of secreting the 
treasures of Guatemozin, of defrauding the rev- 
enues by false reports, and of surrounding him- 
self with grandeur and power that he might as- 
sert independence of Spain, and establish him- 
self in unlimited sovereignty. 

A commissioner, Luis Ponce de Leon, was 
accordingly sent by the emperor to assume the 
government of Mexico temporarily, and to bring 
Cortez to trial. But a few weeks had passed 
after Cortez returned to the capital before this 
messenger arrived. Cortez, surprised by his 
sudden appearance, was greatly perplexed as to 
the course he should pursue. The intelligence 
was communicated to him as he was perform- 
ino- his devotions in the church of St. Francis. 
"He earnestly," says Diaz, "prayed to the 
Lord to guide him as seemed best to his holy 
wisdom, and, on coming out of the church, sent 
an express to bring him information of all par- 
ticulars." 

After much painful deliberation, Cortez de- 
cided to receive the royal commissioner with ap- 



The Last Days of Coktez. 333 

Offers of courtesy. The banquet. Unfortunate crf^cts. 

parent courtesy and submission. He sent to 
Iiim a friendly message, wishing to know whicli 
of two roads he intended to take on his approach 
to the capital, that he might be met and greet- 
ed with suitable honors. The friends of Leon 
cautioned him to be on his guard, for they as- 
sured him that Cortez would, if possible, secure 
his assassination. Leon warily sent word that, 
fatigued by his voyage, he should not immedi- 
ately visit the capital, but should rest for a 
time. Having dispatched this message, he im^ 
mediately mounted his horse, and, with his ret- 
inue, commenced his journey. The vigilant offi- 
cers of Cortez, however, met him at Iztapalapan. 
A sumptuous banquet was prepared, and some 
delicious cheese-cakes were placed upon the ta- 
ble. All who ate of the cheese-cakes were taken 
sick, and it was reported far and wide that Cor- 
tez had attempted to poison Leon with arsenic. 
There is no proof that Cortez was guilty. The 
circumstances alone, as we have stated them, 
awakened suspicion. These suspicions were 
fearfully increased by unfortunate events, to 
which we shall soon allude. 

Leon arrived in the city of M'^xico, and in 
the presence of all the civil and military offi- 
cers produced his authority from the emperor, 



334 Hernando Cortez. 

Notice for complainants. Leon's sudden death. Its cause. 

Charles Y., to assume the governorship of the 
colony, and to bring Gortez to trial. The 
humbled and wretched conqueror kissed the 
document in token of submission. 

Leon now issued public notice that all who 
had complaints to bring against the adminis- 
tration of Cortez should produce them. A host 
of enemies — for all men in power must have 
enemies- — ^immediately arose. The court was 
flooded with accusations without number. Just 
as Leon was opening the court to give a hearing 
to these charges, he was seized with a sudden 
and a mysterious sickness. After lying in a 
state of lethargy for four days, he died. In a 
lucid moment, he appointed an officer named 
Aguilar, who had accompanied him from Cas- 
tile, as his successor. " What malignities and 
slanders," exclaims Diaz, " were now circu- 
lated against Cortez by his enemies in Mexi- 
co!" The faithful historian, however, affirms 
that Leon died of what is now called the ship 
fever. Notwithstanding all these unfortunate 
appearances, it is generally believed that Cortez 
was not abetting in his death. 

Aguilar was a weak and infirm old man, so 
infirm that "he was obliged to drink goat's 
milk, and to be suckled by a Castilian woman 



The Last Days of Cortez. 335 



Aguilar's administration. He determines to return to Spain 



to keep liim alive." This decrepit septuagena- 
rian could accomplish nothing, and after a va- 
cillating and utterly powerless administration of 
eight months, during which time the influence 
of Cortez was continually increasing, he died. 
The treasurer, Estrada, by the governor's tes- 
tament, was appointed his successor. The af- 
fairs of the colony were now in a state of great 
confusion. These new governors were imbecile 
men, totally incapable of command. The pop- 
ular voice, in this emergence, loudly called upon 
Cortez to assume the helm. Estrada, alarmed 
by this, issued a decree ordering the instant ex- 
pulsion of Cortez from the city of Mexico. Cor- 
tez, thus persecuted, resolved to return to Spain, 
and to plead for justice in the court of his sov- 
ereign. At the same time, he received letters 
informing him of the death of his father, and of 
the renewed activity of his enemies at court. 

Purchasing two ships, he stored them with a 
great abundance of provisions, and by a procla- 
mation offered a free passage to any Spaniard 
who could obtain permission from the governor 
to return to Spain. After a voyage of forty 
days he landed on the shores of his country, at 
the little port of Palos, in the month of Decem- 
ber, 1527. Cortez immediately sent an express 



336 Hernando Coetez. 

Reception of the emperor. Marquis of the Valley. Captain General 

to his majesty, informing him of his arrival. 
In much state he traveled through Seville and 
Guadaloupe to Madrid, winning golden opinions 
all the way by his courtly manners and his 
profuse liberality. 

Upon his arrival at Madrid, he was received 
by the emperor with great courtesy. Cortez 
threw himself at the feet of his majesty, enu- 
merated the services he had performed, and vin- 
dicated himself from the aspersions of his ene- 
mies. The monarch seemed satisfied, ordered 
him to rise, and immediately conferred upon 
him the title of Marquis of the Valley, with a 
rich estate to support the dignity. Cortez fell 
sick, and the emperor honored him with a visit 
in person. Many other marks of the royal fa- 
vor Cortez received, which so encouraged him 
that he began to assume haughty airs, and ap- 
plied to the emperor that he might be appoint- 
ed governor of New Spain. The emperor was 
displeased, declined giving him the appoint- 
ment, and a coldness ensued. Cortez, however, 
at length regained some favor, and obtained the 
title of Captain General of New Spain, with 
permission to fit out two ships on voyages of 
discovery to the south seas. He was also en- 
titled to receive, as proprietor, one twelfth of the 



The Last Days of Cortez. 337 

Cortez's marriage. Envy of the queen. He embarks for New Spain. 

lands he should discover, and to rule over the 
countries he might colonize. 

Cortez was now a man of wealth and renown. 
His manners were highly imposing, his conver- 
sation was rich and impressive, and his favor 
at court gave him a vast influence. His in- 
come amounted to about one hundred and 
twenty thousand dollars a year. There was 
no family in Spain which would not have felt 
honored hy his alliance, and when he sought 
the hand of the young, beautiful, and accom- 
plished niece of the Duke of Bejar, his address- 
es were eagerly accepted. The storm-worn 
yet still handsome cavalier led to the altar his 
blushing bride so glittering with brilliant jew- 
els, cut by the exquisite workmanship of the 
Aztecs, as to excite the envy even of the queen 
of Charles Y. 

Cortez soon became weary of a life of idle- 
ness and luxury, and longed again for the stir- 
ring adventures of the New World. Early in 
the spring of 1530, he again embarked, with his 
wife and mother, for New Spain. With his 
characteristic zeal for the conversion of the na- 
tives, he took with him twelve reverend fathers 
of the Church. After a short tarry at Hispani- 
ola, he landed at Vera Cruz on the 15th of 



338 Heenando Cortez. 

Effects of displeasing a queen. Cortex's abode. Tlio contrast. 

July. As it was feared that Cortez raiglit in- 
terfere with the government of the countr j, the 
Queen of Spain, who was quite displeased that 
the wife of Cortez wore more brilliant jewels 
than she possessed, had issued an edict prohib- 
iting Cortez from approaching within thirty 
miles of the Mexican capital. He accordingly 
established himself at one of his country 
estates, on the eastern shores of the lake. His 
renown gave him vast influence. From all 
parts of the country crowds flocked to greet 
him. With regal pomp he received his multi- 
tudinous guests, and his princely residence ex- 
hibited all the splendors of a court. Most of 
the distinguished men of the city of Mexico 
crossed the lake to Tezcuco to pay homage to 
the conqueror of Mexico. The governor was 
so annoyed by the mortifying contrast present- 
ed by his own deserted court, that he despotic- 
ally imposed a fine upon such of the natives of 
the city as should be found in Tezcuco, and, 
affecting to apprehend a treasonable attack from 
Cortez, made ostentatious preparations for the 
defense of the capital. 

For a long time there was an incessant and 
petty conflict going on between Cortez and the 
jealous government of/ the colony. At last. 



The Last Days of Gortez. 339 

He goes to Cuarnavaca. Devotes himself to industrial interests. 

Cortez became so annoyed by indignities which 
his haughty spirit keenly felt, that he withdrew 
still farther from the capital, to the city of Cu- 
arnavaca, which was situated upon the south- 
ern slope of the Cordilleras. This was the 
most beautiful and opulent portion of that wide 
domain which the energy of Cortez had annex- 
ed to the Spanish crown. Here the conqueror 
had erected for himself a magnificent palace in 
the midst of his vast estates. The ruins of the 
princely mansion still remain upon an eminence 
which commands a wide extent of landscape of 
surpassing loveliness. Cortez devoted himself 
with characteristic energy to promoting the ag- 
ricultural and industrial interests of the coun- 
try. Thousands of hands were guided to the 
culture of hemp and flax. Sugar-mills were 
reared, and gold and silver mines were w^orked 
with great success. Cortez thus became great- 
ly enriched, but his adventurous spirit soon 
grew weary of these peaceful labors. 

In the year 1532, Cortez,. at a large expense, 
fitted out an expedition, consisting of two ships, 
to explore the Pacific Ocean in search of new 
lands. The ships sailed from the port of Aca- 
pulco, but, to the bitter disappointment of Cor- 
tez, the enterprise was entirely unsuccessful. 



340 Hernando Cortez. 

The expeditions and failures. Cortez heads another party. 

The crew mutinied, and took possession of one 
of the ships, and the other probably foundered 
at sea, for it was never again heard from. 

But the Marquis of the Valley, with his in- 
domitable spirit of energy and perseverance, 
fitted out another expedition of two ships. 
This adventure was as disastrous as the other. 
The two captains quarreled, and took occasion 
of a storm to separate, and did not again join 
company. The southern extremity of the great 
peninsula of California was, however, discover- 
ed by one of the ships. Here, at a point which 
they called Santa Cruz, a large part of the 
ship's company were massacred by the savages. 
The storm-battered ships eventually returned, 
having accomplished nothing. 

Cortez, still undismayed, prepared for anoth- 
er attempt. He now, however, resolved to take 
command of the ships himself. His celebrity 
induced adventurers from all quarters to seek 
to j oin the expedition. Three ships were launch- 
ed upon the bay of Tehuantepec. Many men 
crowded on board, with their families, to colonize 
the new lands which should be discovered. 
More than twice as many adventurers as the 
ships could carry thronged the port, eager to 
embark in the entei-prise. In the month of 



The Last Days of Coetez. 341 

Arrival at Santa Cruz. The fleet returns. Disasters. 

Maj, 1537, the squadron set sail upon tlie calm 
surface of the Pacific, the decks being crowded 
with four hundred Spaniards and three hundred 
slaves. About an equal number were left be- 
hind, to be sent for as soon as the first party 
should be landed at the port of their destination. 

Sailing in a northwesterly direction, favorable 
winds drove them rapidly across the vast Gulf 
of California until they arrived at Santa Cruz, 
on the southern extremity of that majestic pen- 
insula. A landing was immediately effected, 
and the ships were sent back to Mexico to bring 
the remaining colonists. Cortez did not take 
his wife with him, but she was left in their 
princely mansion on the southern slope of the 
Cordilleras. But disasters seemed to accumu- 
late whenever Cortez was not personally pres- 
ent. The ships were delayed by head winds 
and by storms. The colonists at Santa Cruz, 
in consequence of this delay, nearly perished of 
famine. Twenty-three died of privation and 
hunger. At length, in the midst of general 
murmurings and despair, one of the ships re- 
turned. It brought, however, but little relief, 
as the ships which were loaded with provisions 
for the supply of the colonists were still missing. 

The discontent in the starving colony be- 



342 Hernando Cortez. 

Discontent. Search for the vessels. The colonists eat too voraciously. 

came so loud, that Cortez himself took fifty sol- 
diers and embarked in search of the missing 
ships. With great care he cruised along the 
Mexican shore, and at last found one stranded 
on the coast of Jalisco, and the other partially 
wrecked upon some rocks. He, however, got 
them both off, repaired them, and brought them, 
laden with provisions, to the half-famished col- 
ony at Yera Cruz. 

The imprudent colonists ate so voraciously 
that a fatal disease broke out among them, which 
raged with the utmost virulence. Many died. 
Cortez became weary of these scenes of woe. 
The expedition, in a pecuniary point of view, 
had been a total failure, and it had secured for 
the conqueror no additional renown. The 
Marchioness of the Yalley, the wife of Cortez, 
became so anxious at the long absence of her 
husband, that she fitted out two ships to go in 
search of him. Ulloa, who commanded these 
ships, was so fortunate as to trace Cortez to his 
colony. Cortez not unwillingly yielded to the 
solicitations of his wife and returned to Mexico. 
He was goon followed by the rest of the wretch- 
ed colonists, and thus disastrously terminated 
this expedition. 

In these various enterprises, Cortez had ex- 



The Last Days of Cortez. 343 

Cortez resolves to replenish his resources. Departure for Spain. 

pended from liis private property over three 
hundred thousand crowns, and had received 
nothing in return. As he considered himself 
the servant of his sovereign, and regarded these 
efforts as undertaken to promote the glory and 
the opulence of Spain, he resolved to return to 
Castile, to replenish, if possible, his exhausted 
resources from the treasury of the crown. He 
had also sundry disputes with the authorities 
in Mexico which he wished to refer to the ar- 
bitration of the emperor. He was a disappoint- 
ed and a melancholy man. His career had been 
one of violence and of blood, and "his ill for- 
tune," says Diaz, "is ascribed to the curses 
with which he was loaded." 

Taking with him his eldest son and heir, Don 
Martin, the child of Donna Marina, then but 
eight years of age, and leaving behind him the 
rest of his family, he embarked in 1540 again 
to return to his native land. The emperor was 
absent, but Cortez was received by the court and 
by the nation with the highest testimonials of 
respect. Courtesy was lavished upon him, but 
he could obtain nothing more. For a year the 
unhappy old man plead his cause, while daily 
the victim of hope deferred. He might truly 
have said with Cardinal Wolsey, 



344 Heenando Coetez. 

Neglect and disappointment. Letter to tiie emperor. 

" Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king, he would not in mine age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies." 

Cortez soon found himself neglected and avoid- 
ed. His importunities became irksome. Two 
or three years of disappointment and gloom 
passed heavily away, when, in 1544, Cortez ad- 
dressed a last and a touching letter to the em- 
peror. 

"I had hoped," wTites the world-weary old 
man, " that the toils of my youth would have 
secured me repose in my old age. For forty 
years I have lived with but little sleep, with bad 
food, and with weapons of war continually at 
my side. I have endured all peril, and spent 
my substance in exploring distant and un- 
known regions, that I might spread abroad the 
name of my sovereign, and extend his sway 
over powerful nations. This I have done with- 
out aid from home, and in the face of those who 
thirsted for my blood. I am now aged, infirm, 
and overwhelmed with debt." He concluded 
this affecting epistle by beseeching the emperor 
to " order the Council of the Indies, with the 
other tribunals which had cognizance of his 
suits, to come to a decision, since I am too old 
to wander about like a vagrant, but ought rath- 



The Last Days of 


CORTEZ. 345 


Unavailing appeal. The will. 


His bequests. 



er, during the brief remainder of my life, to re- 
main at home and settle my account with heav- 
en, occupied with the concerns of my soul rath- 
er than with my substance." 

His appeal was unavailing. For three more 
weary years he lingered about the court, hop- 
ing, in the midst of disappointments and inter- 
mittent despair, to attain his ends. But at last 
all hope expired, and the poor old man, with 
shattered health and a crushed spirit, prepared 
to return to Mexico in gloom and obscurity to 
die. He had proceeded as far as Seville, when, 
overcome by debility and dejection, he could go 
no farther. It was soon apparent to all that 
his last hour was at hand. The dying man, 
with mind still vigorous, immediately executed 
his will. This long document is quite charac- 
teristic of its author. He left nine children, 
five of whom were born out of wedlock. He 
remembered them all affectionately in his pa- 
ternal bequests. 

He founded a theological seminary at Coju- 
hacan, in one of the provinces of Mexico, for 
the education of missionaries to preach the Gos- 
pel among the natives. A convent of nuns he 
also established in the same place, in the chapel 
of which he wished his remains to be deposited. 



346 Hernando Cortez. 

An uneasy conscience. Removal to Castilleja. Cortez's death. 

He also founded a hospital in the city of Mex- 
ico, to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Concep- 
tion. 

In these solemn hours of approaching death, 
his conscience does not appear to have disturb- 
ed him at all in reference to his wars of inva- 
sion and conquest, and the enormous slaughter 
which they had caused, but he was troubled in 
view of the slavery to which they had doomed 
the poor Mexicans. With dying hand he in- 
scribes the following remarkable lines : 

"It has long been a question whether one 
can conscientiously hold property in Indian 
slaves. Since this point has not yet been de- 
termined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his 
heirs that they spare no pains to come to an 
exact knowledge of the truth, as a matter which 
concerns the conscience of each one of them no 
less than mine." 

As the noise of the city disturbed the dying 
man, he was removed to the neighboring village 
of Castilleja. His son, then but fifteen years 
of age, watched over his venerated father, and 
nursed him with filial affection. On the second 
day of December, fifteen hundred and forty- 
seven, Cortez died, in the sixty-third year of 
his age. He was buried with great pomp in 



The Last Days of Coetez. 347 

His funeral. The removal of his remains. Solemnities. 

the tomb of the Duke of Medina Sidonia at 
Seville. A vast concourse of the inhabitants 
of the whole surrounding countrj attended his 
funeral. Five years after his death, in 1562, 
his son Martin removed his remains to Mexico, 
and deposited them, not at Cojuhacan, as Cor- 
tez had requested, but in a family vault in the 
monastery at Tezcuco. Here the remains of 
Cortez reposed for sixty-seven years. In 1629 
the Mexican authorities decided to transfer them 
to Mexico, to be deposited beneath the church 
of St. Francis. The occasion was celebrated 
with all the accompaniments of religious and 
military pomp. The bells tolled the funeral 
knell, and from muffled drums and martial bands 
sublime requiems floated forth over the still wa- 
ters of the lake, as the mortal remains of Cor- 
tez were borne over the long causeway, where 
he had displayed such superhuman energy dur- 
ing the horrors of the dismal night. 

Here the ashes of Cortez reposed undisturb- 
ed for one hundred and sixty-five years, when 
the mouldering relics were again removed in 
1794, and were more conspicuously enshrined 
in the Hospital of Our Lady of the Conception, 
which Cortez had founded and endowed. A 
crystal coffin, secured with bars of iron, in- 



348 Heenando Cortez. 



The monument erected over his remains. 



closed the relics, over which a, costly and beau- 
tiful monument was reared. 



THE END. 



BOOKS M THE ABBOTTS. 



THE FRANCONIA STORIES. 

By Jacob Abbott. In Ten Volumes. Beautifully IIlu» 
Srated. 16ma, Cloth, 90 cents per Vol. ; the set complete 
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1. Malleville. 6. Stuyvesant. 

2. Mary Bell. 7. Agnes. 

S. Ellen Linn. 8. Mary Erskine. 

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In the Forests of Maine. ory. 

In Vermont. 



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Handle. Selling Lucky. 

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i. Haaryhead and M'Donnei 



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VOL. I. 
BRUNO ; or, Lessons of Fidelity, Patience, and Self-De- 

nial Taugiit by a Dog. 
V7ILLIE AND THE MORTGAGE : showing How 

Much may be Accomplished by a Boy. 
THE STRAIT GATE; or, The Rule of Exclusion from 

Heaven. 

VOL. IL 
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EMMA; or, The Three Misfortunes of a Belle. 

VOL. III. 

VIRGINIA ; or, A Little Light on a Very Dark Saying. 

TIMBOP AND JOLIBA ; or. The Art of Being Useful 

TIMBOO AND FANNY; or, The Art of Self-Instruc- 
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VOL. IV. 

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FRANKLIN, the Apprentice- Boy. 

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Earliest Periods to the Fall of the Roman Empire. 
THE STORY OF ENGLISH HISTORY, from the 

Earliest Periods to the American Revolution. 
THE STORY OF AMERICAN HISTORY, from 

the Earliest Settlement of the Country to the fistabfec^i- 

mwt of th« Federal Constitution. 



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THE MUSEUM ; or, Curiosities Explained. 

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JlAMBLES AMONG THE ALPS. 
5CHE THREE GOLD DOLLARS ; or, An Account ot 
the Adventures of Robin Green. 

VOL. VIII. 
THE GIBRALTAR GALLERY: being an Account 

of various Things both Curious and Useful. 
THE ALCOVE : containing some Farther Account of 

Timboo, Mark, and Fanny. 
DIALOGUES for the Amusement and Instruction of 

Young Persons. 

VOL. IX. 
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at School. 
AUNT MARGARET; or. How John True kept hia 

Resolutions. 
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VOL. X. 
CARL AND JOCKO ; or, The Adventures of the Little 

Italian Boy and his Monkey. 
LAPSTONE ; or. The Sailor turned Shoemaker. 
ORKNEY, THE PEACEMAKER; or. The Various 

Ways of Settling Disputes. 

VOL. XL 
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MINIGO ; or. The Fairy of Cairnstone Abbey. 
TASPER ; or. The Spoiled Child Recovered. 

VOL. XII. 
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V^IOLA and her Little Brother Arno. 
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Pain. 

Some of the Story Books are written particularly for girls, iuid 
borao for Boys, and the diifferent Volumes are adapted to v.aci£is 
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«tll the Chaldron of the Family' and the Pandajr-SchooL 



Books by the Abbotts. 



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C- Abbott. The Volumes of this Series are printed and 
bound uniformly, and are embellished with numerous Engrav- 
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A series of volumes containing severally full accounts of the lives, 
characters, and exploits of the most distiuguished sovereigns, po- 
tentates, and rulers that have been chiefly renowned among man- 
kind, in the various ages of the world, from the earliest periods to 
the present day. 

The successive volumes of the series, though they each contain 
the life of a single individual, and constitute thus a distinct and in- 
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order, and each one continues the general narrative of history down 
to the period at which the next volume takes up the story ; so that 
the whole series presents to the reader a connected narrative of the 
line of general history from the present age back to the remotest 
times. 

The narratives are intended to be succinct and comprehensive, and 
are written in a very plain and simple style. They are, however, not 
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The volumes are sufficiently large to allow each history to comprise 
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Abbauam Lincoln's Opinion op Abbotts' Histories.— Jn a c«Jfc 
^rsation with the President just before his death, Mr. Lincoln said: "J 
aant to thank you and your brother for A bbotts^ series of Histories. J 
have not education enough to appreciate the profound works of volu^ 
minous historians; and if I had, I have no time to read them. But 
your aeries of Histories gives me, in brief compass, just that knowledge 
(^past wten and events lohichTneed. I have read them, with the great* 
tat mtertat To them I am indebted for about all the historical knowlr 
idgt iiav*." 



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